The Knits impressed with a cheerfully messy set. Their third track, humorously called Ramona (no relation to Velociraptor's new single) was a hard, fast Ramones-esque banger, replete with “Whoa-oh”s, and packing in a couple of chords and plenty of power. The set celebrated its own sloppiness, as frontman Brendan Walsh (known better as the bassist from Palms) illustrated: “How much time do we have left? ... Ah well, they're only minute-and-a-half songs anyway.”
Adults were up next, and while their minimalist punk instantly caught attention, sounding like a combination of Parquet Courts and Joy Division, it was their ironic detachment and disinterest that regrettably lost the crowd's enthusiasm. The band seemed bored and didn't seem to fit the energy of the room. However, with their last song, a slackery slow jam punctuated by its chorus – a hectic outburst of Dinosaur Jr.-esque rock with wonky distorted guitars – the band seemed to stick the landing, if only just.
The best part of a Donny Benet set is watching the crowd's reaction go from dismissal to confusion to exultant joy. Benet is a fantastic, anachronistic gem, whose more-'80s-than-the-actual-'80s tunes are at once hilarious and undeniably great. While at the beginning of his set the crowd were a little confused and shy, by its end they were dancing like crazy and screaming for more.
As Brisbane's infamous amorphous seven or eight or 12ish-piece attempted to fit on stage, the massive, excited crowd similarly attempted to cram into what was left of the tiny mosh pit. On paper, it seems like Velociraptor as a concept couldn't get much more in-your-face if they tried. However, a real highlight of the set was that Easy Tiger's stage is elevated about 5cm (if that) off the ground, and there's virtually nothing separating the band and the crowd: something frontman Jeremy Neale took full advantage of as he frequently ran into the crowd and shared the mic around the front row. It barely needs to be said how massive this band sounds, even in this stripped-down touring mode, but the energy of the packed room coupled with the band's ultra-catchy garage-rock tunes made for an unforgettable show.
Carols By Candlelight Line-up Revealed
