Live Review: Riverwood, The Winter Gypsy, Attila My Honey, Cassie O'Grady, Anti Psych

Friday night saw an array of talented musicians at Jive, and main attraction was the celebration of Riverwood's album launch. The local Adelaide favourites hand-picked some support acts to carry the night along.

Anti Psych, the solo act of Celine Zerna, kicked off the evening's shenanigans with an outpouring of lyrical depth and vocal prowess. Zerna displayed an incredible range of lyrical intensity and extremely well-tuned notes, which would capture the attention of any operatic fan.

Cassie O'Grady followed and implemented a combination of covers and originals including a perfect cover of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. She projected a down to earth persona that was straight to the point. She even wrote a song for her mum and included scatterings of witty onstage banter.

Attila My Honey left mouths agape as the first full band of the night, and from their leading chords they hit the ground running. Perhaps they could be described as Adelaide's answer to Fleetwood Mac, since the Ella Ion's vocal timbre was reminiscent of Stevie Nicks and the harmonies produced by the rest of the band were fantastic.

The Winter Gypsy were the last of the support acts, another cherished Adelaide band whose dynamic performance hypnotised the eager Jive punters. The rise and fall of their instrumentation in front of driving rhythms and coupled with the lead singer's fragile falsetto proved to be chock full of ear candy.

Finally, Riverwood took their position on stage and began with steady finger snaps underlying a Viking-like chant before launching into a dirty and heavy down-tuned song. Their second piece entitled Opposite Sides Of The World was a definite contrast to the first as they serenaded the audience with heartfelt and upbeat acoustic melancholy.

The average observer would soon realise that Riverwood was the brainchild of singer/guitarist Jordan Slattery as he consistently expressed his love and appreciation towards his fellow band members. Slattery's solo acoustic number was dedicated to his "beautiful, dear bandmates", but this love was not one-sided as guitarist William Lee jokingly stated that Slattery had saved him from a burning car and that any lady would be lucky to have him as a boyfriend (or even just for a night).

Onstage flattery aside, Riverwood continued to entertain as they cruised through their debut material demonstrating a wide spectrum of influences and emotion. Slattery's vocal tones sat between John Mayer and Chris Cornell and the band's instrumentation cross-bred City & Colour and Black Sabbath, offering up an incredibly unique sound. Their popular single Outsider illustrated Slattery's breathy vocal melodies, which were dressed up in melancholic washes of guitar and synth. The five guys really nailed it home with their final track, a cover of No Diggity. They put their own Riverwood twist on the song and Lee thrashed around like a ragdoll. The audience howled and cheered giving the Adelaide legends the appreciation they deserve.