Live Review: Wren Klauf, The Keepaways, Blaire

A Wren Klauf show is a like being at a house party full of friends you haven't met yet. Their fan base is a diverse demographic full of musicians and visual artists, and everybody in the room is incredibly welcoming.

With a free EP and party-poppers on arrival, this is a birthday, EP release and art exhibition all at once, a wild celebration of Gold Coast culture. What more could you want?

The custom banner decorating the stage is like something out of a high-school art project, a colourful effort of DIY arts and crafts; the perfect backdrop for the upcoming performance. The merch table is littered with a surprising amount of freebies: dorky stickers, totes, shirts, framed drawings of the new EP artwork and the band's custom line of underwear are all on exhibition.

While the audience reacquaints itself, opening band Blaire begins to meander up to the stage and attract everyone's attention. Blaire are akin to a contemporary conglomeration of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. A colourful contrast of clean and driven guitars is quintessential for the genre, and the boys in Blaire provide this alongside a disciplined and energetic rhythmic section. Blaire's performance exhibits what teamwork and good songwriting can do during a live show. It's exciting to hear an emerging act doing this old genre justice and the apathetic and self-loathing banter set the mood well for the following acts.

The Keepaways are met with a welcome change to their performance tonight. In the past, vocalist Jake Dickinson would fly around the stage in a whirlwind of electronics and explosive drums, but tonight's performance involves a lot more guitar. Regardless, their performance is equally as visceral. Dickinson is splitting his signal to two separate guitar combos and a bass rig all spread across the stage, consuming both the stereo and frequency spectrum. The drummer, James Dimmick, is a constant surprise with his ability to sound like a drum machine and then change to a hardcore-punk style. It's an immense display of talent that consistently creates a stark contrast through every new arrangement. Some new material is completely foreign to the audience but they sing along just the same before being thrown into a familiar hurricane of chaos. The Keepaways transcend space and time to transform this modern nightclub into a hardcore-punk venue.

Wren Klauf are clambering about the stage setting up their rigs while the audience waits in anticipation. Everyone in the room, with party poppers in hand, is excited to hear the new songs. Their latest record can be described as an interesting fusion of math-rock and Beach Boys-esque pop. While some of their arrangements can be complicated, the band does well to alleviate the audience's musical frustration as frontman Sam Faulkner burps on an abrupt beat of silence. The group are a collective of young but seasoned musicians, and none of them are shy of the microphone; each has their own character in the collective as the banter fills empty space. It's like watching the Banana Splits do stand-up.

Self-aware musical comedy is a personal favourite, and it's well received among the audience tonight. At one point the band even begin jamming on a dorky riff bursting into a song about swimming in spaghetti sauce. Although their set is full of glorious goofs and gaffes, their performance is equally passionate and executed with conviction. The band is constantly holding interest with musical delight or crazy samples of Bruce Page reading the news. Even through some minor technical difficulties, the audience is still immersed in the banter or chatting with their new friends. Wren Klauf's performance is an excellent display of musical talent, passion for art and good character.

Congratulations to Sam 'Slippery Dip' Faulkner, Wren Klauf and Kiah The Label for organising the release and hosting such a colourful event. This scribe is anxious for the next one!