Wild Violet

Wild Violet is an all girl rock band that is made up of four confident sixteen year olds. Wild Violet had the task of opening Heat 2 at The Espy Basement and they handled the challenge like they had been playing gigs for sixteen years, not like they were only sixteen years of age! The band opened with a cover song which they obviously handled well, but this listener was waiting to hear what the girls could do with their own music. Second song ‘Mr Mojo’ was a catchy number with good use of backing vocals by Angelica on guitar and Alisha on bass guitar. Guitarist Angelica ripped a solo in fourth song ‘Crazy Train/Nib’ that was very tasty! In fact the whole band was very tight, lead by a very solid drummer in Neyoosha and an amazing front woman in Octavia who had all the moves, but most impressively the voice to go with it! An accomplished set from Wild Violet!

The Moral Panics

The Moral Panics were the second act to take the stage and were made up of some members from one of the bands we had play with us last year, ‘The Stumpy Chumps!’ Interestingly though, this bands sound was somewhat different from ‘The Stumpy Chumps’ sound. So much groove that the crowd could not help but move, especially in second song ‘Take Me Back!’ The song had a fat riff and bass sound that interlocked with Campbell’s great drumming! Boy oh boy can Campbell play those skins! Front woman Steph has a great voice and is very accomplished on bass guitar and even pulled out the acoustic for a song which she was well backed by the boys when Campbell stepped up to the bass and Jack on guitar set the atmosphere with tasty guitar playing! The band finished with a cover which was a shame because their original material held its own! A refreshing set from The Moral Panics!

Nathan Varga

Nathan Varga is a solo musician who arms himself with a single acoustic guitar when he is on stage. He plays a percussive style of finger picking that reminds this listener of singer songwriter ‘Daniel Champagne’. The first song of the set showcased what Nathan could do on the guitar and he then followed it up by converting the guitar into somewhat of a lap slide guitar and playing a nice harmonic and percussive piece on it. Nathan’s songs are quite long instrumental pieces but he keeps the crowd interested throughout and tells nice stories between songs. Unfortunately it meant he could only fit three songs into his set, so we look forward to seeing what he brings out next time! In the final song he even got the crowd inspired enough to clap along in the middle part as the song intensified and then he faded out the guitar in such a nice way that brought the crowd to silence! An epic end to a creative set from Nathan Varga!

Absent Minded Daze

Absent Minded Daze kept the chill going in the room with their mellow singer songwriter songs. The duo which is made up of David on acoustic guitar and main vocals and Franky on viola and vocals gave the songs everything they had, but lacked a bit of punch and polish in their live performance. Vocal projection and a solid guitar strumming style were lacking and meant the songs didn’t quite get the desired result. An experienced listener could hear that the songs were of quality and well written, when recorded they will sound fantastic, but the live performance needs work. Second last song of the night ‘Hippe Love’ was the highlight of the set.

Dr Malone

Blues was the flavour to finish off the night with the Dr Malone boys! A nervous start faded in second song ‘Believer’ that had some nice backing vocals, but you could tell the boys felt a lot more comfortable when stepping into a more twelve bar style of blues with a tune called ‘River.’ ‘Crocodile Tears’ was a real hit with the crowd with its catchy chorus. ‘Precious Times’ had more of a reggae feel which was a nice change up from the band. Dr Malone was a very tight band and they showed this in their final song ‘This Thing’ which featured a great solo at the end from guitarist Brendan. Down and dirty blues from Dr Malone!