Live Review: San Ciso, Millions, Chaos Chaos

As the first support act for Fremantle indie darlings San Cisco entered the expanse of the Astor's stage and kicked off tonight's sell out all-ages show, Chaos Chaos, a Brooklyn born sister act, were greeted with such applause and animated enthusiasm, they might have thought they were the headliners. This two-piece electro pop band comprising of just the live drumming and backing vocals of Chloe Saaverda and the electric piano and synths of sister Asya pulled off an extremely charming and entertaining performance that started the night off on an upbeat note. Their quirky melodies and dreamy harmonies, contained within simple song structures that switched mood from bluesy rock tones to heavier on-beat electronica, gained an encouraging response from the young audience, who seemed keen to exercise their tonsils at high velocity on any given opportunity.

Next were Brisbane's garage rockers Millions, who swanned on the stage looking suave in their sports jackets and designer shirts. They launched into Champagne, a guitar rich strum-happy song taken from their 2012 EP Nine Live, Six Degree. Front man Dom's well-balanced, and distinct, vocals sat well on the glitch guitar riffs and solid rhythm section backing, as the band stormed through their American-Anglo style indie rock. By now the front stage area was packed and in full motion to the sight of these handsome men in action, screaming emphatically at every break between songs. Those Girls and Stone Rollin' continued the almost glam rock styled sound, while the tight lead vocals of Dom were full of emotional depth which  kept the pace of the show ticking along. Around song six a cover of Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing seemed appropriate for this night, since the screaming onlookers looked enthralled at every move the boys made.  The triple j-friendly hit Nineteen came towards the end and enforced just how catchy and appealing this band are, overall their routine was slick and well balanced, albeit not entirely ground breaking, but performed with finesse and well rehearsed skill…

After a short intermission to sort out the stage and surely to create some anticipation and excitement amongst the hordes of the devoted fans, San Cisco came to the stage to the intro of Flume's track Sinatra and then immediately launched into the 2012 single Rocket Ship. The immensity of the shrieks and screams that resulted without doubt would have raised the dead a hundred miles away, while the sea of handheld phones snapped up all the quirky pop and “oh laa, laas” that made the opener such a good one to start with.

San Cisco have come a long way in the last few years; these teen popsters have captured the hearts of many, young and old, and it's obvious why. Catchy pop with sing-a-long choruses and positive rhythms is what the people like, and these guys do it so very well. It took until the intro of Stubborn from the Stella EP for Hawaiian-shirt wearing front man Jordi Davieson to address the fans and proclaim ”We've always wanted to play at the Astor”. It's a surprise they haven't before. Promoting their newly released album Beach, unsurprisingly, the majority of songs performed were from the record: Hunter, Metaphors, Wild Things and Toast, all full of creamy lead vocals, sweet harmonies from the talented drummer Scarlett Stevens and sugar-coated guitar riffs galore.

The Hottest 100 hit Awkward, of course, had everyone heaving with delight and after slower track Fred Astaire, the band left the stage briefly, before continuing with a two track encore. Having just created a YouTube storm with their cover of Daft Punk's Get Lucky the previous day during a studio take on triples j's Like A Version, San Cisco's rendition was supported by hundreds of voices around the hall. With sounds of the final track No Friends wrapping up the night's entertainment, beach balls filling the air and the support bands joining them on stage for a final dance, the night closed on a high that will probably be reminisced and discussed in detail for months to come.