Live Review: The Delta Riggs, Gideon Bensen, The Cherry Dolls

The lights were back on in Adelaide and the worst storm in over 50 years had passed, but a few select bands tried their best to blow the roof off a pretty eager full room of music lovers at the good old Gov.

The unbelievable package of energy that is Joshua Aubry, frontman of Melbourne's The Cherry Dolls, had the mic swinging, slamming his head around and pooling with sweat from the get-go, as slumberous onlookers sat at tables. These were a strange addition to the room for such a high impact show and maybe something to consider removing to instigate a little more interaction from the crowd early on. Either way, The Cherry Dolls played an epic set; Aubry completely reminiscent (prepare for a huge call) of Mick Jagger at his peak.

Six months on from his departure from The Preatures, after starting his own record label and releasing a solo EP, Sydney's Gideon Bensen has started to make a name for himself across the nation. Unfortunately, he put his foot in his mouth a little tonight in Adelaide however.

Opening with all the charm needed to win over the crowd, and playing a perfectly polished set, Bensen, with his brooding voice and a drummer by his side, charged full steam ahead right into another irritating gaff about Adelaide that went a little like this: "It's really nice to be back here in Perth, I hear you have some floods and stuff."

Crickets was the resounding response. The crowd genuinely didn't know whether it was an awkward joke or just another annoying jab that seems to latch onto anything Sydneysiders say about Adelaide. Ever. A photographer jumped up and corrected Bensen, which led to his reply of, "Oh, I just read that off the back of my guitar. I'll shut my trap then." And he continued playing. The mood dropped as people were confused and a negative vibe unfortunately plagued the rest of his set.

The sour taste disappeared instantaneously with that intergalactic backdrop: The Delta Riggs in florescent lights. And, oh boy, did they absolutely throw themselves into it!? Mimicking their new record by kicking off with its Surgery Of Love opener and then seamlessly rolling over onto Supersonic Casualties, The Record's Flawed and Bobby's Flowers these boys stayed true to the testament that they produce stellar shows. Elliott Hammond was the perfect frontman, that unique, crackly voice sounding so much better live — when he's drenched in salty, beery sweat — than on record. There wasn't an inch of stage that Hammond didn't cover over the hour. Thank fuck this show wasn't scheduled during the black out!