Major Leagues and Bloods

Despite the chilly Melbourne winter weather Belinda and I headed down to Shebeen Bandroom tonight to catch the joint headlining tour by Major Leagues and Bloods.  The first act for the night was Melbourne's Zone Out, a four piece with a female lead singer/guitarist, drummer and keyboard player, and male guitarist.  Their set contained very dreamy indie sounding songs with some nice harmonies sung in the choruses by the lead singer and keyboardist.

To determine the next band to play there was a rock, paper, scissors contest between the two co-headliners.  Brisbane's Major Leagues lost so they were up second.  It was good to see yet another female dominated indie band.  The three ladies took turns singing lead vocals, although it was difficult to hear them at times due to a bit of a muddy mix up front.  Their set included a cover of "Pure Shores" by the UK girl group All Saints.

The final act for the night was Sydney punk trio Bloods (the main reason I wanted to see this gig).  We were lucky to be treated to a lot of new songs that they are currently recording, including the new single "Want It."  They also played old faves such as "No Fun," "Into My Arms," "Hailing Down," "Goodnight," and "Bodies."  It was an awesome set full of great energy from the band and the new material sounds really promising.  As the lights went up Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" was played over the speakers in honor of the end of the tour.

Here is Bloods with "Want It"

Cloud Control: Album Preview Show

Tash and I were very excited when Cloud Control announced a sideshow in Melbourne at the Corner Hotel while they were in Australia for the Vivid LIVE festival in Sydney.  It has been a couple of years since I last saw them play as they are now located in the UK, and this was our first chance to hear songs from their upcoming album Dream Cave.

The first act of the evening last night was Melbourne singer-songwriter Ali Barter, who played a solo set on electric guitar.  Her songs sounded good and she also did a cover of the Foo Fighters' "Tired Of You."  Next up was Sydney band Bloods who I just loved.  A girl punk band with a boy drummer, they reminded me of 1990s riot grrrl bands.  I thought they had a fantastic energy, good humor and found them to be very impressive.

The Corner was absolutely packed by the time Cloud Control took the stage.  As this was an album preview show, the set list alternated between old songs and new ones.  The new material sounded great on first listen, with a couple of really stand out tracks.  We were also treated to many songs off of their debut album Bliss Release, including my favorites "Gold Canary," "There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight," "My Fear #2" and "Ghost Story."  For the encore they played the title track "Dream Cave" and finished with their first hit single "Buffalo Country."  I am looking forward to the release of Dream Cave as well as their album tour later in the year.

Here's the new single "Dojo Rising"