Live Review: Big Scary, Dreller

It's clear from tonight's events that the headliners are now operating within a new scope of ambition and accomplishment - expanded line-up, larger audiences, tightly choreographed lighting displays. It was a massive event. 

In the future, it's not impossible to imagine London-based Sydneysider Dreller operating in a similar sphere of influence. Blending experimental electronics with live instrumentation and widescreen melodies, Dreller's style sits halfway between latter-day Muse and Thom Yorke's solo material. However, it's a formula that is clearly still in need of refinement. Tonight's set saw moments of transcendent power, but was just as often bogged down by too many extraneous layers - often in the same song. Everything came together in the verses of Control, however: tight grooves, electronics and live instrumentation all working in tandem. Then, it just fell apart with every chorus; too many tricks and flourishes over-complicating a simple idea.

From the very moment their five members took to the stage, Big Scary showed how it was done. Throughout their set, bandleaders Tom Iansek and Jo Syme occasionally made comments about how they'd never played a headline show of this scope before but, watching their performance, you'd never have suspected as much for a moment.

It's astonishing to think how far the pair has come from their origins as an indie duo. The sheer amount of styles and ideas covered by their set was dazzling. From the tom-heavy percussive funk of opener Oxygen, to the stripped-back balladry of Bad Friends, to the stadium-sized choruses of final encore number Twin Rivers, their catalogue has become staggeringly diverse.

But, beyond that, their set showed a mastery of the visual showmanship of true world conquerors. Over Matter's glacial new-wave cool arrives bathed in oceans of blue tones and cascading spotlights. Savior Add Vice's colossal wall-of-noise intro bursts on stage with the fury of burning reds. When the band cut to silence, their lighting follows suit - enhancing every dynamic shift.

Really, their only arguable misstep of the evening was Syme sincerely devoting a celebratory The Endless Story to the AFL grand final win of the Western Bulldogs. (Despite receiving a near-perfect set, the crowd was seemingly not in the mood to echo her enthusiasm.)