Sparkadia Sparkles at ANU

Sparkadia kicked off their Australian 'Great Impressions Tour' at ANU Bar, supported by Alpine and Operator Please on Thursday night. The young, hip crowd filled the bar early, and it was apparent everyone was really excited for the three talented Australian bands.

The last time I saw Operator Please was at Stonefest, and I was a little under-whelmed by their performance, so I was looking forward to seeing them in a more intimate venue. The smaller stage and crowd allowed the energetic young band to connect more with the audience, who lapped up their fun pop tunes like 'Leave it alone'. 'Just a song about ping pong' was the crowd's favourite song of their set, and Bassist Ashley McConnell and violinist Taylor Henderson deserve special mention for their enthusiasm, getting the crowd excited and providing the perfect warm up for Sparkadia. 

Operator Please- © Chris Whitfield

Appearing on a heavily back-lit stage dressed all in black, looking like a group of very attractive, new-age priests. Frontman Alex Burnett basically had to find a whole new band to continue with Sparkadia for this album, and the new bunch of brits bring new energy and talent to make a brighter band.  They started off quietly with 'Kiss of Death' before moving on to 'Too much to do', which the crowd loved, all squishing close to the stage.  

Sparkadia © Chris Whitfield

Their sound was fantastic on the night, with clear, soothing vocals and the use of an array of instruments like asian gongs and glocks which created a really different, interesting feel to their songs. Alex said 'Mary' was his favourite song on the album and his live rendition had everyone singing along, making the crowd his gospel choir, signing his praises. 

Sparkadia © Chris Whitfield

They played a range of songs from both albums over the 90 minute set, with current single 'China' and haunting ballad 'Ghost' displaying their versatility. An epic extended version of 'Jealousy' closed the night, and I left with a new-found respect of the seriously talented boys and very happy that Alex pushed through adversity to make sure Spakadia's flame didn't fizzle out.

© Chris Whitfield

© Chris Whitfield

Chris Isaak lights up Enlighten

It was a cold, almost wintry March evening on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin when Chris Isaak performed at Commonwealth Place as part of the Enlighten Festival.

Most audience members came prepared with picnic rugs, camping chairs and blankets to keep warm. Those that forgot the essential guards against the damp lawn and chilly wind were able to warm up with ample food and drink choices available next to the stage.

Soon enough the McClymont sisters took to the stage, showing off their toned, bare legs covered in goosebumps and making jokes about Canberra's infamous weather. Their country rock tunes had eager audience members swaying in front of the stage, whilst the majority were happy to watch from their aforementioned chairs.

The three sisters displayed their musical talents by singing in harmony and playing guitars throughout their set. Their feelgood songs such as I'm Not Done With You Just Yet and Love Me In The Morning were well performed with the sisters making an effort to playfully interact with each other and the audience.

The hour-long wait from the McClymonts finishing and Chris Isaak starting was filled with talented ladies dancing with lit-up hoolahoops. They wandered through the crowd providing a pleasant and unique distraction from the usually boring wait that set changes involve.

Chris Isaak arrived on stage and immediately the atmosphere in the audience changed. Chris didn't have to ask twice for people to stand up and start dancing. His silky-smooth voice, coupled with his heart-felt lyrics and dangerous good looks immediately had the female portion of the audience swooning. He even created a crush of middle-aged women trying to touch him when he left the stage and walked through the audience in the middle of his third song.

It was impossible to take your eyes off him, clad in a bright red suit with golden flames embroidered on the sleeves, and his hair slicked back and piled into a Elvis-esque quiff. The rest of his band were kitted out in a black version of his suit.

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Chris consciously entertained the crowd, dancing and chatting to all musicians and pulling girls out of the crowd to join them on stage. He played a variety of guitars beautifully throughout the show, including an acoustic that had his name written on it in white paint, and a super white Gibson electric guitar.

He performed a mixture of his songs including Wicked Game, We Lost Our Way and Best I've Ever Had and included well-known covers to fit with his flame theme like Johny Cash's Ring of Fire and Jerry Lee Lewis's Great Balls of Fire.

He returned for the encore wearing an eye-catching mirrored suit and closed out the night with Pretty Woman and Blue Spanish Sky. The audience meandered to their cars, super satisfied with a night of quality music and entertainment.

Dizzee Rascal

By Grace Keyworth

The University of Canberra's refectory has recently undergone a make over and Dizzee Rascal was one of the first real tests for the refreshed venue. Study and food hall by day, the tables and chairs were cleared away and refect was transformed into pumping music room on Friday night. 

Starting off the evening were local lads Cheese and Offtapia, who provided the necessary warm up beats to get the young liquored crowd in the mood to party until the early morning. Everything was running pretty smoothly with two bars providing quick drink service, plenty of space out side and designated smoking areas to keep everyone happy. Although more than one person commented that they should've added some extra toilets in the fit out, as people had to wait over 20 minutes to get to the front of the queue, a problem that resulted in disaster for a few punters. 

DJ Tai mounted the very dimly lit stage next, standing out in his red cardigan and blonde hair piled stylishly into a quiff. His electro music was baseline heavy which the audience didn't react to at first, with more leaning against the walls than dancing. Towards the end of his set he played a remix of Guns N Roses anthem Sweet Child of Mine which won over many punters and a mosh pit formed in front of the stage. 

The atmosphere increased from engaged punters to pandemonium from the moment The Subs hit the stage. The highly energetic three piece looked fantastic with black and white eye makeup providing a focus point and gave them a rock star edge. The boys made use of the stage, the speakers and railings, jumping around and climbing the speaker stack whilst removing items of clothing throughout their set. Special mention goes to the lead singer's bedazzled leather jacket, more than one person in the media area commented on how they'd love to hang it in their wardrobe. Their sound was heavily synthesised electro punk and the 1900 strong crowd jumped in sweaty unison to their most well known track Bang Bang Bang. 

By the time Dizzee Rascal was ready to come on stage at 11.30 the crowd was well and truly oiled and ready to see him. The crowd jostled for positions close to the stage, unfortunately resulting in a bunch of boys loosing their tempers but the security team did a good job controlling the violence. In a blaze of light and noise Dizzee appeared; wearing a Michael Jordan 23 jersey, basketball shorts and some very shiny black kicks he had the 'I'm way too cool for school' look sorted. 

Dizzee opened with old favourites, Old Skool, Bad Behaviour, Road Rage and Dirtee Disco and played the mash-up with Florence and the Machine's You got the Dirtee Love was a definite crowd favourite. His lyrics were machine gun fast, and at times a little indecipherable to those not overly familiar with his style. When he left the stage without playing Bonkers the crowd knew he would be back, telling us he wanted to 'take us on a holiday' and launched into his current hit Holiday and finished the night with Bonkers. Pure mayhem is an understatement on the crowd's reaction to his most well known song, and I was very glad I made the trip down the stairs from the media balcony to get amongst the final release of energy.