Live Review: Tully On Tully, Neighbourhood Youth, Big Winter

Starting a casual half-hour late, Big Winter begin playing as soon as they get on stage and boast mellow guitar tones, a soft beat, synths and some sweet falsetto. We warm to them immediately, moving forward with interest and, halfway through their first song, the crowd doubles. The band get a bit heavier and more upbeat mid-way through their set and when lead singer Jam Nawaz tells us that it’s only the third gig they’ve played, we’re all pleasantly surprised.

Next up are Neighbourhood Youth. The four-piece begin with some indie-rock-style tunes, but they don’t interact with the crowd much at all. As a result, not many people pay attention. Around the middle of their set, they play Holiday. A few people dance along in recognition, but aside from that they struggle to keep our attention. They’re extremely tight and well rehearsed, but just need that extra something.

Tully On Tully jump straight into their first song sounding a lot like Paramore, but Natalie Foster’s vocals set them apart. They’re a lot more raw and loaded with emotion, which is backed up by Foster’s theatrical way of working the stage. A few songs in comes Stay and, of course, we all recognise it so sing and dance along. The vocals, however, just sound a bit off; the song features Hayden Calnin and just doesn’t sound right without him. Foster’s vocals also strain quite a bit during this one. She struggles to keep her voice as high as it needs to be, but Foster redeems herself in the next few songs: Quiet Company followed by an excellent cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Maps, which is so perfect for her voice it sounds like she wrote it. Two Birds comes next, and Foster bops around the stage again, even infiltrating the audience to have a dance at one point. A whip appears onstage and she sings with it draped around her shoulders for a little while before tossing it back into the crowd. Tully On Tully then drop their new single All These Words. “We only have one left for you, and we're not doing an encore because we hate them,” Foster says with a stern look before they finish up with one last song. We shout for an encore after they’ve left the stage, but Tully On Tully stay true to their word and leave us wanting more.