Live Review: Tigertown, James Crooks, Phebe Starr

Tigertown's Lonely Cities tour finished up in possibly one of the loneliest cities on the planet, Perth. Possibly one of the most fitting locations to place the final show of their tour; Tigertown's Lonely Cities EP and Perth embrace each other like cheese and wine. Accompanied by Sydneyside acts James Crooks and Phebe Starr, punters witnessed a marathon of delicious indie-pop, with tones ranging from the upbeat to the undesired to the melancholic and the macabre.

James Crooks opened up his set with a cool and calm demeanour, pushing his music unto the crowd in an artful and pulsating manner. Atmospheric at its best, his performance was a stellar electronic experience, with clear and crisp samples helping illustrate the emotional quality in his songs. Attentively operating the mixer placed in front of him, there is no doubt Crooks was good at what he did. A highlight of his set was a performance of Naturally, which easily summarised his set into one song — well packaged, an absolute banger superposed with a layer of subtlety.

Phebe Starr's jazzy vocals added a sombre undertone to her performance, with the overall feel being 70 percent melancholic and 30 percent upbeat. Tardy statistics aside, there was a mesmerising quality that her voice helped illustrate and evoke, a vibe very much akin to a Lana Del Rey record. What really cut her performance from the rest of the proverbial fat was the strong backbone of the support band, which pushed a large audible wall of synth upon the audience. Naturally, the band still had leg room to get loose, giving punters ample opportunities to boogie.

Tigertown's set was an explosion of glitter and fast-paced party anthems, really capturing the essence of fun. It wasn't much of an effort for the band to usher the punters closer to the stage. In an effort to keep things fresh and slightly unpredictable, some new tracks were showcased for drooling fans and old favourites were also brought out. Finishing off with Lonely Cities, the camaraderie and ecstasy of the crowd suddenly made Perth a little less lonely with the punters dancing together into the night.