Live Review: The Naked & Famous, Vancouver Sleep Clinic

With a warm welcome from the otherwise unenthused hipster crowd, Vancouver Sleep Clinic opened the gig with their amazing, record-quality sound. The Brisbane-born Tim Bettinson shared his sombre, smooth and angelic falsetto with a Perth audience for the first time, and also as a now 18-year-old enjoying the company of the crowd. Ambient synth and static, electro drumming combined into a range of soothing, downbeat songs, complementing the chilling vibe drawn from Bettinson's vocal performance. They managed to cover Hold On, We're Going Home by Drake and well-deservedly left us on a good note with a guitar lead-driven outro, soaring synth and thrashing cymbal breaking the crowd in for the headline act.

Although the crowd was pumped and prepared to groove and dance, New Zealand's The Naked & Famous had some work cut out for them as the atmosphere still seemed to resonate a little tension. This crowd was hard to please, hard on the knees and just really lacked energy. So, as the silhouetted members of the band took to the stage, their enigmatic presence somehow established an instant connection with the reserved audience, kicking them straight into Sow. As Punching In A Dream began to play out the crowd lost their minds, singing word for word and jumping like the crazy drunken souls they were, finally breaking down that tense atmospheric wall once and for all. The Sun gave vocalist/guitarist Thom Powers an opportunity to showcase his modulated guitar solo, while Rolling Waves had the crowd chanting the chorus line, creating moments of magic on lead vocalist Alisa Xayalith's cue. Xayalith displayed good communication skills with her audience and beckoned them with ease. They played hits Young Blood and Hearts Like Ours, leaving the crowd a beautiful mess with their absolutely danceable repertoire.

Their epic outro left the band in the good books, ensuring a warm welcome for when they return to headline at Perth. Both the bands left the crowd with amazing memories to look back on.