Live Review: The Middle Names, The Dark Hawks, ANgry Beige

Angry Beige is a band you might remember from that secret Green Day gig at Captain Cook a while back (they were just as surprised as everyone else by the way, despite being on the same bill). They mine heavily from late '60s blues-rock and enjoy a solid riff. Their opening set wasn't bad, but felt safe and unexciting. Vocalist “Elf” (Elft Scott) was not unlike Tia Carrere's Cassandra from Wayne's World. She could wail, but ultimately seemed out of place. Her voice was a cloudy mess of texture and largely indecipherable.

The Dark Hawks followed suit with some similar riff-heavy blues, but sounded a little more sophisticated. They had a heavy Yes vibe, and shared that band's rhythmic skill. Their drummer Mark Davies was a standout. Once again it was the vocalist, Angie Anderson, who felt weak, and was mostly window dressing with very little intensity, despite her efforts. As a side note, they easily had the best hair on the night by a wide margin. Even the bass player's sleek bald bonce looked good as a point of difference.

Hobart's The Middle Names were a welcome change with their cleaner, upbeat sound that offered a nice contrast to their po-faced supports. They led with current single, Full Friends, and Jealousy, bright and chunky throwbacks to infectious late '90s Australian alt-rock (think Jebadiah, but much better). It took about half a song for the small dance floor to fill up, and it perfectly reflected the change in energy coming off the stage. It was a tight but friendly performance full of snappy riffing and warm songwriting. If there's any justice, these guys are set to be big. Like real big.