Live Review: Picture Perfect, Blue River Saga, The Theives, Jungle Bones

On a rainy Saturday night huddled inside Hermanns Bar are fans, friends and curious musos ready to check out some live music and forget the world outside at the University of Sydney’s own intimate bar and music venue. The line-up for the night includes two additional special guests worth mentioning. Newcomers – ‘Chili-Pepper’ funk rockers Jungle Bones and alt-rock outfit The Thieves, both bands still in their early days, are finding their feet and showcasing their original material.  

Blue River Saga, led by baby-faced frontman Wil Maisey, play out an enticing array of melodic crowd-pleasing tunes, with a very effective synergy happening between both acoustic and electric guitars. The lead guitarist in his Tom Morello get-up provides soulful echoey solos with great skill. The set also includes a cover of The Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition, a surprisingly fitting tune, and also their new bittersweet single Wounds.

The crowd comes and goes and the numbers fluctuate throughout the night. The most praise these bands are going to get is about a dozen hands clapping here and there.

Picture Perfect, the main act, graces the stage after almost two hours of opening acts, which may have unwittingly played against them since by the end of the night they are playing to a crowd of less than 30 people – some sitting, some standing. The power trio from Western Sydney seems unfazed by this and when Gavin Bowles, lead guitarist and singer, comes up and starts with From The Inside Out, it becomes apparent that he can command the stage like nobody’s business. These guys are pure energy – so much so that by the end of their second song the drummer smashes the skin of his snare drum.

It seems like nothing can stop this band from carrying on, and with a new snare thanks to Blue River Saga’s Joel Stormer the show goes ahead. Playing songs from their new EP Well Alright!, including the underappreciated Faceless Man (a glimmer of hope for the band’s expansive potential), Picture Perfect deliver a night of fast riffs, impromptu drum solos and wild eyes.