Live Review: The John Steel Singers, Jeremy Neale, Bell Weather Department

An early tune by Bell Weather Department satisfied with snaking guitar parts and an atmosphere that Queens Of The Stone Age would be proud of, but midway through the set the band really started turning heads with Lunar, an extremely catchy tune with a killer guitar hook atop a cute vibraphone part. The band's most appealing attribute was their unconventional songcraft – each song seemed to take an unexpected turn at some point, which kept things fresh.
Jeremy Neale is making the catchiest pop music around and his boundless energy onstage backs it up to the Nth degree. Joined by his band (tonight going by the name Game Of Thrones Season 4 “because they're so ahead of the curve”), Jez and co blasted out a fast set comprising darker B-sides and new tunes (showcasing Neale's encyclopedic understanding of pop), as well as the usual hit parade of singles (Doo Doo Doo, Darlin', Swing Left). The absolute highlight? Neale and Thrones joined onstage by a dozen or so adoring fans, honorary Go Violets, for the stellar In Stranger Times. “Thanks for partying,” says Neale. Any time.
Putting something of a damper on the evening, it became immediately apparent that The John Steel Singers' mics were too hot – not such a problem on a slow, harmony-rich jam like MJ's On Fire Again, but as the band wailed through State Of Unrest, a few punters were driven to the back of the room rubbing their ears. It didn't faze the band, though, who seemed to be more impassioned by the impact they were having. And sound issues aside, the band still put on a pretty damn good show, churning out psych-pop grooves and tight harmonies, caught up in the chaos of a whirlwind tour around the country and embracing the last night before Sydney's new lockout laws were to come into effect.