The Last Party On Earth was a marathon event held at 34B the day after Mardi Gras, sponsored by Smirnoff as part of their Promoter Grants initiative. The irony of the night was that it was largely held in the dark, and party goers (and entertainers) were encouraged to bring their own lights. You can imagine how it was – lots of glow sticks, necklace lights and bodies enwrapped with fairy lights.
Super FLORENCE jam kicked off the night at seven on the dot with their popular track, ‘Ghetto Project Fabulous’. This four-piece were outstandingly good, and to my surprise are unsigned. As they continued to play, it was apparent singer Adam has the gift of AC/DC front man Dave Evans. The band overall though, delivered punishing and intricate melodies like that of Muse. To say this group set the bar for the rest of the night is an understatement.
Six-piece group Sherlock’s Daughter seduced us next, with their harrowing and soft, experimental tunes. Their performance was impressive as there was so much going on with at least three members doubled up on their instruments. I could have sworn I heard sand paper at one point (remember it was dark). This group presented the cohesion of an orchestra and a diversity of compositions, which drew more of the crowd into the darkness by finishing with their notorious ‘Songs For Old People’.
Sydney indie band Deep Sea Arcade motored on next with their 60’s surfer music on tracks like ‘Don’t Be Sorry’ and ‘Lonely In Your Arms’. Vocalist Nick McKenzie has a really eccentric sounding voice live and has this almost nasal effect. Don’t be perturbed by that comment – he controls it beautifully, with the skill of a veteran.
If we weren’t already blessed for high calibre performances, The Seabellies assured us further that Sydney is the best music town to be in. Revealing this was their first gig in four months, it certainly didn’t show. Also full to the brim with six members, The Seabellies really worked together to share their indie-pop-rock prowess. It is not often you see the singer, bass player and keys girl jump off stage intermittently and play the drums off stage successfully. They were really fun to watch, and most people were dancing by this stage.
The Scare was next and was a really interesting watch. I feel kind of bad I didn’t quite get into their music 100%, considering they were the headlining act. They were fun though, and singer Kiss Reid performed most of the gig on ground level with the audience. He had a stage presence similar to Nathan Hudson from Faker. Their stuff sounds very post-punk and carries undertones of their residence in England a couple years back.
Cassian and M.I.T vs Ben Lucid closed the night of live acts. This was possibly the best music event I have been to all year. It was timed well, the standard of entertainment was excruciatingly high and there wasn’t much of a gap in between performances. Not that it mattered, as there were great deck spinners in Q Bar next door. Oh what a night.
