Live Review: Alpine, The Montreals, Auguste

Opening the night with a collection of floating, electronic-pop goodness were local duo Auguste. Immersing the basement in their echoing harmonies that capture heartache and loss, the girls caught the attention of all the early comers. Only releasing their debut single Slow Motion last year, for a lot of people this was their first listen to Auguste and yet another example of the importance of seeing support bands. Skye Lockwood and Beth Keough shone on stage and carried themselves with a quiet confidence.

Next up were local favourites The Montreals. Busy playing shows all over the place, these guys are certainly no strangers to warming up a crowd. As they opened with Electric Gecko, a brilliant burst of their distinctive, jangly indie-rock sound got regular fans immediately lit up and dancing. We heard the punchy, Brit-pop inspired single from their Indigo Club EP, as well as the carefully stripped back love song, Feeling That Way. The guys clearly had fun on stage, and their playfulness rubbed off on the crowd. Everything made for a reciprocal and glowing set, before closing with "a bit of a thrasher", Take It All.

With the floor now overcrowded with fans and lights appropriately dimmed, the six-person band that is Alpine graciously took the stage. Dual vocalists and mesmerising frontwomen Phoebe Baker and Lou James opened with the dreamy, reverb-soaked Crunches, accompanied with a huge singalong from fans. Despite the number of band members tightly packed on stage, the attention didn't shift from Baker and James. What makes an Alpine show sparkle is the unmistakable energy between these two women who dance and create their own hype, which in turn transfers into the crowd.

Despite an excellent balance of minimal percussion, disjointed guitars and pretty synths, the soaring harmonies from Baker and James were the spectacle of the night. Although the venue itself doesn't have the best reputation for good sound feedback, the band pushed through and did their best to fill the room with their lush, alternative pop sound. We heard old classics and crowd favourites Gasoline and Hands, as well as new tracks from their second album Yuck (2015), including Foolish and set closer Damn Baby - shedding light on a sexier, bolder side to Alpine that left fans exuberant.