Live Review: Foals, Django Django, Mansionair

Sydney-based three-piece ensemble Mansionair open to a filling Festival Hall. Their music is minimalist pop, with Jack Froggatt's vocals the wispy, uplifting centrepiece of the act. Hold Me Down is a great track that stands out from the hubbub.

Django Django take the stage after a three-year hiatus from Melbourne. Reverb features heavily throughout the set and the pounding bass lines and drum beats that epitomise their sound make each track fun to dance to. You realise that at least a third of the people in the crowd are Django fans as that is the amount of people who already have their hands in the air by the second song.  First Light and Default are definite crowd pleasers. Despite the cringe-worthy introduction of "The lights are red, which means this is going to be WOR!" the track makes for a near perfect ending to the set and gets everyone fired up.

Foals take the stage with the general admin section almost full to bursting. Snake Oil opens loud and fast with revellers throwing empty beer cans across the mosh pit. Stuck in the wings people sit up to attention, straining as best as they can on the pew-like seats to see and hear the action on stage. A few brave souls start to dance in between the seats where nobody's sitting and some even braver souls dance on the seats until a blue clad usher comes over to tell them off. Crowdsurfers are numerous and the black-clad bouncers at the front of the stage arbitrarily rip some from the crowd to eject them from the building and others they let return to the mosh. The secret seems to be don't kick the bouncer in the head as you come over the rail, and remember to thank them. My Number has everyone dancing and singing along to the simple and catchy lyrics. After the high energy opening however the set settles into more subdued tracks such as A Knife In the Ocean and Spanish Sahara. Inhaler breaks the lethargy and brings the energy levels up for the encore. Lead singer Yannis Philippakis attempts to joins the crowdsurfers during What Went Down and despite getting airborne drops the mic. He returns to the stage prowling and slinging the mic around for the final song of the set, Two Steps, Twice.