Live Review: Thelma Plum, James Crooks, Kayex

Plan B Small Club was almost filled to the brim when the first support act Kayex took to the stage. The newly formed duo managed to thrill the crowd with their stage antics, catchy beats and soothing yet brooding vocals. They managed to get the crowd dancing and cheering: a promising start for this electronic band.

Following Kayex, James Crooks began his magnificent set, as he played drums both electronically and authentically. It was interesting and entertaining to watch as his musicianship was impeccable. The performance felt as if it lacked a certain excitement as the vocals were tracked, not sung live — an area of improvement for him and his project.

Finally, later in the night Thelma Plum graced the stage with her enthralling performance. The venue by then was pumping, people dancing and laughing in the crowd, getting ready to let loose and dance. She played a rework of her hit tune Dollar, escaping her usual acoustic tendencies to fly into the ambience of electronic/synth-pop. This new exploration of the genre throughout the set really suited the new tunes she had composed for her album, though this left the old tunes behind as they were rather acoustically stunning in previous performances and EPs. Perhaps it was an interesting change to prepare crowds for Plum’s possible new image and sound.

Her banter was sweet as well as her general vibes on stage, putting the crowd at ease. Young In Love a tune from her EP, Monsters, got the singalongs reaching an all time high, the audience lapping up Plum’s confidence. At times the sound seemed shaky, as the drums became overpowering and Plum was left in the mist. She handled this well later in the set as she performed Around Here. Her vocals really shone over the synth-pop frequencies. To follow she performed a song from her upcoming album, a song she “really didn’t know what to name it yet”. The guitar riff in this tune in particular was completely magnetic, hopefully a taste of the expertise that will be showcased in this upcoming album. Then, How Much Does Your Love Cost? brought the tempo up again before the soft encore of one of Plum's hits from her early days, Father Said, in which she owned the stage all by her lonesome, just with her guitar, which is how she seems most comfortable. For her second encore she got the crowd roaring as she ended with her cover of Chet Faker’s Gold for triple j's Like A Version. A great vocal performance to end an ear-catching and interesting set.