Live Review: St Lucia, The Griswolds

Tonight we bear witness to an '80s pop reboot, the musical era that has crept steadily back into the zeitgeist via recent synth-pop explosions. It starts tonight with The Griswolds. Singer Chris Whitehall, clad in a red velvet jacket and gold earrings, is style and substance. His crisp vocals lead a near-flawless sound from the Sydney group. Their five-voice gang vocals on Mississippi are outstanding. It adds a punk aesthetic to the purity of their pop.

Shimmering synths signal it's time for St Lucia, Jean-Philip Grobler's pet project. Opener The Night Comes Again has all the elements of a stadium pleaser. The slow build intro, Grobler's windswept hair and the band's cascading harmonies and rolling drums recall every joyous musical moment of the '80s. As a frontman, Grobler plays the hesitant star to perfection. His confused delight upon hearing the crowd's hearty singing is sincere and spurs his fans on further. “I've got a feeling we will never get closer than this/I can't imagine there's a way to get closer than this,” Grobler and crowd sing with parallel passion on Closer Than This. Given St Lucia are relative newcomers, these lyrics may prove prophetic as their career trajectory sees them playing to larger crowds. We Got It Wrong layers a swinging Supertramp guitar sound onto thudding house beats. All Eyes On You acts largely as a breather before Elevate kicks in. Now it's really party time. Elevate is a snapshot of everything Grobler is trying to achieve with St Lucia: Synth-pop imagined through a framework of '80s stadia. His band, sharing in the revelry of tonight's jamboree, back him up expertly. It's wall-to-wall dancing as twinkling synth rides atop bouncing bass and thundering tom drums. There isn't a stationary soul in the house. Grobler repeatedly belts out, “Hold on to your heart,” to close the song. His vocal command matches his charismatic presence.

The set takes a quick detour with a cover of Rufus and Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody. Grobler plays the pantomime smouldering star well. When The Night closes the set with one last jolt of elated energy. For a band that wear their influences like a badge of honour, St Lucia somehow still manage to incorporate a sound and style all their own.