Live Review: Mildlife, Demon Days

Playing to a swelling crowd with no shortage of enthusiasm, local quintet Demon Days put everything into this supporting performance, endearing themselves to any first-time listeners. With Bella Nicholls out front rolling through her repertoire of idiosyncratic, enthralling dance moves, they were thoroughly engaging. Their brand of soul and funk has a fair bit in common with Erykah Badu, tinged with jazzy moments where Nicholls demonstrates some impressive vocal agility. Without a guitarist there’s quite a bit for keys player Josh Chan to do to fill the void, but he handles it effortlessly with some truly wicked playing. Demon Days are a refined, polished bunch, and one that will only improve as bigger occasions arrive. 

Having last visited Mojo's just over a year ago, Melbourne’s Mildlife have been touring solidly, and globally, ever since. Their brilliant live shows have seen them become the toast of tastemakers like French broadcaster and DJ Gilles Peterson, developing a superlative reputation. Having spent the past couple of weeks supporting King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on their Australian tour, the band arrived here in rich form. Those bigger shows would have perfectly suited the band's swelling, driving grooves, but it was a thrill to witness them up close in the smaller surrounds of Mojo's.

As always they were dazzling from the moment they kicked off, with drummer Jim Rindfleish setting the tone with his flawless, boogie-laden beats. Tracks from 2017’s Phase were stretched and developed with aplomb, such as the brilliant The Magnificent Moon. Tom Shanahan’s bass offered plenty for the synth of Kevin McDowell to work on, allowing space and time for the songs to grow and their power to rise. However, it was the scintillating guitar and flute-playing of Adam Halliwell that was the true highlight. Dexterous and indefatigable, he routinely made the songs his own with his solos. The crowd was equally vigorous, and the momentum that swept through it was invigorating. Performances like these are a rare and treasured thing. Moments where the band and audience were in unison were the rule, not the exception, and at the set’s end it was difficult to let go. The recently released How Long Does It Take?, with its lovely flute intro that leads into another of Rindfleish’s stonking beats, capped the main set with a smashing finish, before the band returned with a new, similarly buzzing track.