Live Review: King Krule, Emerson Snowe

If you're ever looking for a Boys Next Door-era Nick Cave lookalike, Emerson Snowe is your man.

He's charming, touching, flirty and playful - three of which characteristics Nick Cave isn't. Getting the call-up to The Croxton the night before the show to fill in support for a headliner is no small feat, but Snowe is nimbly able and up to the tall task. The room is filling out quickly as he starts his punchy and humour-filled set. Claiming this song as somewhat of a mission statement and coming-of-age anthem, he tears through a shouty and fetching cover of The Replacements' Androgynous. Mid-set cues a quiet sit-down on stage as Sugar Ray's Every Morning blasts through the club speakers. It's hilarious, although some don't get the cheeky joke. His material is decidedly lo-fi, but sheepish class and affable stage presence juxtapose the fuzzy haze of the tunes. Upcoming debut single Could You Love Me? near set's end is a high-wire highlight.

Having the initial ticket release sell out in hours and fans scrambling for tickets on social media surely boosts an artist's ego and bank balance, but it certainly doesn't show on King Krule leader Archy Marshall's face tonight. The London native is backed tonight by a five-piece band, including one saxophonist and a sound manipulation person to generate that eerie fog of noise he's become renowned for. They scream, scowl and tumble their way through the first two tunes, and then the familiar ambience and angular guitar chords sequence into third track and second single Dum Surfer from Marshall's 2017 opus The Ooz. If the jangly guitar chords to the song's bridge are any indication, tonight's set is more Foo Fighters than Chet Baker. Marshall somehow manages to spit backwards behind his head onto stage and not hit himself, which probably summarises the King Krule experience - gnarled, nasty, heady and brilliant all at once.

"I'm a fan of equal rights," he timely croons to the sweaty audience, a well-placed affirmation that cuts through the pummelling masculinity of his hard rock-indebted, all-male backing band. The crowd is wild tonight as well, heaving and moshing its way through the majority of the set. A girl next to us is sobbing profusely through the entirety of soulful cut Baby Blue, which is just as valid a reaction to King Krule's material as anything really. Crowd favourite and underground breakout hit Easy Easy is the last song before the encore, and it hits just as hard as on record.

An extended wait off-stage and the band is back to cuss and snarl their way through the track that introduced the then-wiry teenager to the world, Out Getting Ribs. He swings his guitar off, smashes it on the ground, cusses, shouts and walks off stage to finish - a great exit. A single song encore, rapturous applause, lights up and now Melbourne will have to wait in anticipation for the next sold-out show tomorrow night.