Live Review: Heaps Good Friends, FeelsClub

It's the eve of a very long weekend and Brisbane's cosiest live music venue is absolutely chockers for the third stop of Adelaide "peanut brittle" pop trio Heaps Good Friends' national Hug Me EP tour.

Making the most of the last opportunity to dance ahead of four days of binging on Easter eggs, the hipsters and skaters in the mosh warm up their soles early to the Future Islands-inspired bangers of local outfit FeelsClub. It's hard to not focus on frontman 'St Jonnie' as he commands the stage with energetic lyrical charades and shares cheeky smiles with those dancing hardest next to the stage. While closing track Deadlights is an easy highlight, this "trash pop" group definitely has the talent and swagger to be Brisbane's next big indie success story.

After several teasing false entrances as half the crowd are handed neon bracelets, the headlining three-piece finally jump on stage to rapturous applause, air horns, and the Spice Girls' Wannabe. Following an opener full of energy and saccharine synths, Cry Like A Psycho sees the first singalong of the evening. However, the song's infectious Vampire Weekend-esque soundscape, bassist Nick O'Connor's interpretive dance moves, and frontwoman Emma Fradd's glam-rock guitar solo means everyone's attention is firmly on the stage.

I Could Eat A Full Packet of Yo Yo's sees O'Connor have the time of his life dancing with the crowd, while Fradd's wah-wah solo on her golden glitter guitar shows there's much more to the singer than just her wispy vocals and disarming lyrics. The sold-out audience, appropriately addressed by Fradd with, "I'm pretty sure you're the loudest crowd we've ever played to," becomes even louder as drummer Dan Steinert breaks into an improvised cover of Will Smith's The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air and Heaps Good Friends fan favourite Online Shopping Trolley.

Their signature tongue-in-cheek lyrics about love and dating are perfectly showcased in Lobster Bibs. Pockets of the crowd audibly laugh at "Please don't, don't leave my sock on the clothesline" as they bop along to cheesy '80s synthesiser tones and choreographed onstage moves similar to Napoleon Dynamite's Happy Hands Club choreography.

With the room feeling like an oven, the trio's electronics seemingly fry 30 seconds into Olympic Sneakers. O'Connor manages to keep spirits high as Fradd frantically fixes the glitch, "We fucked up the equipment with our good vibes everyone! Quick, everyone hug each other and we'll have this ready in a second." Round two of the track is easily rowdier than the first, assumingly due to the power of hugs, as everyone in Black Bear Lodge adoringly screams with Fradd, "As soon as you leave I'm taking off my makeup".

Unsurprisingly, the trio finish their joyous set with breakthrough single Let's Hug Longer, with a combination of a ukulele singalong and a thumping synth soundscape. Fradd turns into a, well, a firework as she bounds across the tiny stage leading her now 250-strong choir through a song that almost too honestly encapsulates the feelings of awkward flirting and dating.

There's a strong sense of disappointment when the trio don't return for an encore, a testament to the band that has Heaps Good Music and is Heaps Good Live. Do yourself a favour: slap your dancing shoes on and catch the Adelaide trio at one of their remaining Hug Me tour dates!