Stonefield, Lester The Fierce, The Rollercanes @ The Ferntree Gully Hotel, Melbourne (29/11/2013)
It’s very rare that we “hills-folk” get the chance to see quality bands close to home, so when I saw that Stonefield would be bringing their rock and roll sounds to the Ferntree Gully Hotel I jumped on the opportunity.
I headed into the stage room to catch local indie trio The Rollercanes’ set. I could definitely hear elements of classic Kings of Leon and the Strokes in their music, who they actually list on the “Sounds Like” part on Triple J’s Unearthed page. Their front man Daniel Wright who looked quite a lot like Craig Nicholls from The Vines was very damn talented both vocally and on the guitar. If their was one thing that took away from their show was how uninterested their drummer looked. It is hard to get enthusiastic about a band if they don’t look like they’re having fun themselves. Despite this, they are a band I’d definitely recommend to see. Their EP is available for free on Bandcamp as well.
The next up was Lester the Fierce, who I struggled to get into. The band is a project of vocalist Anita Lester, who has an incredible strong voice. However, the power of her vocals and the music just didn’t seem to mesh well and with the combination of some sound issues I found myself cringing a little. But then again, big voices like Florence and the Machine/Adele aren’t really my thing.
If a few years back somebody told you four teenage sisters from a little country town would make music inspired by the sounds of Frank Zappa, Led Zepelin and Hendrix you probably would brush it off as a gimmick. However, the 2010 Triple J Unearthed winners Stonefield are anything but.
They came out on stage to a broad audience and went straight into the Black Water Rising. Vocalist Amy Findlay moved around freely at the front of stage while one of their crew filled in on drums. Her incredible voice and the hard rock riffs work together perfectly. I remember standing in the crowd thinking, “man, they are just so cool”.
Next up they played Love You Deserve, which has been one of their latest singles following the release of their self-titled album. Hannah Findlay’s ability to smash out incredibly difficult guitar riffs throughout the whole night was very impressive.
About half way through the set, Amy went on the drums as they played Move Out of My Shadow. This song was definitely the highlight of the night for me. Every member had their chance to sing, and they all sang very, very well. There was something about Holly Findlay’s stage presence that came across really well to me in the crowd.
Stonefield are a band you should experience in a live setting, because of the simple rawness of their music. They are definitely one of the most unique bands in the world today, and their musical skill transcends any ideas of a gimmick surrounding their age and gender. Not a band to be missed.
Ryan Hyde
I headed into the stage room to catch local indie trio The Rollercanes’ set. I could definitely hear elements of classic Kings of Leon and the Strokes in their music, who they actually list on the “Sounds Like” part on Triple J’s Unearthed page. Their front man Daniel Wright who looked quite a lot like Craig Nicholls from The Vines was very damn talented both vocally and on the guitar. If their was one thing that took away from their show was how uninterested their drummer looked. It is hard to get enthusiastic about a band if they don’t look like they’re having fun themselves. Despite this, they are a band I’d definitely recommend to see. Their EP is available for free on Bandcamp as well.
The next up was Lester the Fierce, who I struggled to get into. The band is a project of vocalist Anita Lester, who has an incredible strong voice. However, the power of her vocals and the music just didn’t seem to mesh well and with the combination of some sound issues I found myself cringing a little. But then again, big voices like Florence and the Machine/Adele aren’t really my thing.
If a few years back somebody told you four teenage sisters from a little country town would make music inspired by the sounds of Frank Zappa, Led Zepelin and Hendrix you probably would brush it off as a gimmick. However, the 2010 Triple J Unearthed winners Stonefield are anything but.
They came out on stage to a broad audience and went straight into the Black Water Rising. Vocalist Amy Findlay moved around freely at the front of stage while one of their crew filled in on drums. Her incredible voice and the hard rock riffs work together perfectly. I remember standing in the crowd thinking, “man, they are just so cool”.
Next up they played Love You Deserve, which has been one of their latest singles following the release of their self-titled album. Hannah Findlay’s ability to smash out incredibly difficult guitar riffs throughout the whole night was very impressive.
About half way through the set, Amy went on the drums as they played Move Out of My Shadow. This song was definitely the highlight of the night for me. Every member had their chance to sing, and they all sang very, very well. There was something about Holly Findlay’s stage presence that came across really well to me in the crowd.
Stonefield are a band you should experience in a live setting, because of the simple rawness of their music. They are definitely one of the most unique bands in the world today, and their musical skill transcends any ideas of a gimmick surrounding their age and gender. Not a band to be missed.
Ryan Hyde