LIVE REVIEW: Loon Lake

By Georgina Metcalfe

As part of SSS global domination, we’ve ventured across another ocean to the sunny shores of Australia. Yes, it might be winter but it’s already hotting up in Sydney and it’s not just the weather (I must however stress it is 20 odd degrees, the equivalent of a Manchester summer).  Yes, Loon Lake played the cavernous Good God club a few Fridays ago and the walls were sweating.

The three Nolan brothers, Tim and Bully were welcomed on stage by a gaggle of teenage girls or ‘Loon Lakers’ (term for a Loon Lake fan, not necessarily a teenage girl).  I would be lying if I was to say I can remember what order the songs came along but that can only be a testament to the fun time had by one and all. For their opening song the crowd went mental, pushing, shoving, and other gig-like behaviour. One crowd member donned the head of a panda costume; maybe someone can shed some light on that?

The majority of the performance was upbeat and energetic and the band appeared genuinely excited to be performing gig number six of their thirteen-date headline tour. The almost strained-sounding vocals lived up to the EP adding to the bands’ distinctive sound. This tour round they had the added bonus of a projector screening images, lyrics and not-so subliminal messages such as ‘watch Loon Lake live’. They narrowly managed to skim over the inevitable lull; one of the less upbeat songs saw bar sales rise, re-arrangements onstage whilst the crowd resorted to swaying. The dancing quickly resumed with my personal favourite ‘Fantastica’, featured on recently-released EP Thirty Three.

Their first hit ‘In the Summer’ generated a lot of excitement as did Triple-J favourite ‘Cherry Lips’. I was however disappointed that heavier number ‘Sleep’ was not a part of their set list and not on either EP AND nowhere to be found on the internet! Are we to wait for this to be released posthumously? I hope not. For their final song, Sam reached the high notes with an epic cover of The Darkness ‘I believe in a Thing Called Love’ capping off a tremendous performance.

If you haven’t yet managed to catch them yet worry not, their touring is relentless.

Dates with Ball Park Music:

WED 24 OCT UNI BAR,WOLLONGONG

FRI 26 OCT UNI BAR, NEWCASTLE

SAT 27 OCT METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY – ALL AGES

THU 01 NOV THE SPOTTED COW, TOOWOOMBA

SAT 03 NOV THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE

THU 08 NOV COOLANGATTA HOTEL, GOLD COAST

SAT 10 NOV GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL, BYRON BAY

SUN 11 NOV ALHAMBRA LOUNGE, BRISBANE – UNDER 18S ONLY

TUE 20 NOV THE GOVERNOR HINDMARSH, ADELAIDE

THU 22 NOV BENDED ELBOW, GEELONG

Just as a footnote, here’s a little tribute-treat I came across on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4U3DM9qs7M