Live Review: Moses Gunn Collective, The Family Jordan, Mid Ayr

It's been several months since Brisbane locals Moses Gunn Collective released their debut album Mercy Mountain and their most recent single has also been doing the rounds for some time now, yet here they were on Friday playing to a sold out crowd at The Foundry. Such a feat is testament to the fact their popularity runs deeper than the amount of tickets a well-worded press release and umpteenth-numbered album single can sell you, the simple fact is, everyone just loves watching these guys live.  Supported by fellow locals Mid Ayr and The Family Jordan, this triple threat of Brisbane bands makes for a great evening.

Mid Ayr kicked off the night, quickly managing to draw the more dispersed early crowd in to the stage with their chilled melodies and catchy vocals. Although we hear an EP is on the way, currently the band have only released a handful of singles, but the set goes down an absolute treat anyway, from the laid back Summer vibes of My Mayhem to the rockier guitar of Letting You In, there's already plenty to love about this up-and-coming act.

The Family Jordan (not to be confused with The Jordan Family Band, a country band/actual family from the US) start their set with frontman Jordan Rochfort on the acoustic guitar, who completely embraces the lone troubadour character bit, complete with an almost perfect southern twang.  Like Mid Ayr before them, The Family Jordan's line up is a mash-up of other local artists including members of Morning Harvey, The Belligerents and the stars of tonight's show, Moses Gunn Collective.  There's something equal parts charming and slightly creepy about a bunch of talented musos getting together to riff off country clichés with tracks like Red Light, and then bring in elements of psych waves in Spirit Guide.  Even when they're singing about cigarettes and cans of beans, this talented bunch manage to pull off that whole 'effortlessly cool' thing, albeit in a rather tongue-in-cheek way.

As Moses Gunn Collective walk on stage, the first thing I notice is a distinct decline in the ratio of glitter to persons on stage. For a band that usually literally puts the glam in glam-rock, the minimal smudges of face glitter tonight are a far cry from the sparkly costumes and vast quantities of glitter I've grown accustomed to seeing. Apparently I'm not the only one who notices the difference, with frontman Aidan Moore eventually responding to a few front-row hecklers with a simple, "there's no more glitter, because it kills the dolphins", though even he can't manage a straight face as he says this — more likely it seems like someone just forgot to go to the craft store before the show.  It's always fun when a band plays in their hometown, and even better when it's a sold out show, the vibe (and the temperature for that matter) in the room was at an all-time high. 

Showing off their debut album in all its psychedelic, incredibly catchy, spaced-out pop glory, Moses played a terrific set. Early standouts included the psych-pop wonder of singles Back Into The Womb and the ever-so-catchy Hot Mess. For a moment the cheery faćade of the band comes down as Moore laments, "we thought people liked songs like that hot mess," if only a certain national broadcaster would heed those words.  The amazing falsettos in Hole In The Wall soon pulled everyone out of that funk, and the band even throw in some excellently dorky coordinated dance moves into the mix.  Finishing the set with the ethereal groove of Shalala, there wasn't a single misstep from the band tonight and the crowd absolutely loved it. Tonight was all about awesome Brisbane music, and boy did the bands deliver.