Winston SurfshirtIt's a chilly Sunday evening in Brisbane, but Woolly Mammoth is warm enough to slowly cook a Sponge Cake as a second consecutive sold-out crowd eagerly awaits one of 2017's most popular breakthrough acts, Winston Surfshirt.
A romantic, vintage pop track announces the six-piece, fronted by their effortlessly cool namesake, as they cram onto the now-seemingly tiny Woolly Mammoth stage. Flanked by keyboards atop LED boxes displaying the words "WINSTON" and "SURFSHIRT" respectively, Surfshirt leads the band through their opening jazz-laden, hip-hop numbers, including the seductively catchy Ali D.
Looking content slouched over a glowing, white microphone stand, Surfshirt, eyes closed, then serenades the captivated mosh with Round & Round as all sway in time to the summery R&B jam.
As the set develops, it's clear that the trombonist is the true MVP of the group, tastefully embellishing Surfshirt's smooth flow and subtle melodic vocal progressions with rumbling refrains and energetic countermelodies.
Surfshirt accurately observes, "These temperatures aren't even allowed in saunas!" as bodies come together for the sultry Same Same and When You're Ready. However, the mood quickly lightens with the fun and bouncy On A Lock, which sees Surfshirt deliver most of the song dancing along the bar top with the crowd, much to the joy of those who haven't manage to cram into the mosh.
Leaving the stage for all of 30 seconds, the encore begins explosively with the closing track from their debut album, Cast In Stone. Being at least twice the duration of any other track of the evening, the group brilliantly showcase their jazz-inspired, hip-hop stylings - ranging from pumping dance refrains to tempo-tripping keyboard jams.
With everyone itching for once final dance - or grind - the six-piece close their set with a laid-back, but still infectiously groovy, cover of Fatman Scoop's Be Faithful, featuring the evening's opening act Crooked Letter as hypeman.
With a magnetic frontman and a rhythm section that could make even the hardest of metal tracks suave and groovy, it's not hard to see why Winston Surfshirt is selling out venues across Australia.
