Live Review: Tomorrows Tulips, The Babe Rainbow, Ross De Chene Hurricanes

It must be '80s denim jacket night at The Tote since every third punter entering the band room seems sporting one.

Ross De Chene Hurricanes starts things off with a collection of pulsing rock tracks while The Babe Rainbow brings the peace, love and trippiness to the house. Lead singer and drummer Angus Dowling dons a pimpishly long cream jacket embroidered with gold, while lead guitarist Kool Breeze channels his blond surfie Jesus look extremely well. Half the crowd stays chilled out sitting crossed-legged on the floor until peppy Love Forever inspires a rush to the dancefloor. Even bass player Dr Eliot Love-Wisdom is forced to remove his sparkly poo-brown jacket in the heat. Undeterred by a pint of beer slowly edging off an amp to spill straight over a bunch of leads, The Babe Rainbow continues weaving their mystical musical charm. A bluesy harmonica-drenched little interlude kicks off the beginning of Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest, a track not showing the best of Angus Dowling’s vocal abilities - but who cares? The Babe Rainbow groupies in the crowd certainly don’t.

Slack rockers Tomorrows Tulips begin their Australian tour with a slightly awkward, “Heeey, how’s everyone doing Down Under?” from bass player and singer Ford Archbold. Son of cult surf legend Matt Archbold, young Archbold and lead guitarist Alex Knost look every bit like dirty grommets themselves. They deliver dark, atmospheric tracks with heavy fuzz, messy throbbing echoes and piercing distorted crackles, while digital projections provided by Dominic Santos flood the stage with shifting animated shapes.

Flowers On The Wall begins with a car alarm-sounding guitar riff that feels a little like finger nails scratching down a chalkboard, while Surplus Store is laid back enough to get Knost doing some sexy swaying around the mic. Archbold then introduces an “Old song about love” (Eternally Teenage), but says with an insolent grin, “I don’t sing about love anymore, I just do it.” Punters are inspired enough to start a wave of crowd surfing, but Archbold sternly tells everyone to “shh, this is a quiet song,” before playing gentle track I Lay In My Bed. Some dude ignores the “shh” and surfs straight onto the stage before turning back, spreading his arms and falling gracefully into the crowd almost like Baby doing the lift in Dirty Dancing.

It’s a beautiful moment topping off this night of slightly off-kilter musical magic.