Live Review: The Floors, Blind Valley, Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids, Black River Rebellion

The Red Rattler is a humbling, warm place with its comfy seats, nice older people taking care of you and calming red walls. But there was nothing comforting or humbling about the thrashing it copped with this gig.

First up were the hypnotic trio Black River Rebellion, with their strung-out melodies and stomp box driven tunes. Although the room was near empty, the three still joked and told their stories, even if they were mostly about getting high, with one song called There's Nothing To Do But Get High.

Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids have their shit together with their brand of contagious blues and the strong connection they weave with the crowd, as Frank Sultana told personal stories of each band member. Guitarist Lyall was a song-and-a-half late to the show but without delay, jumped right on stage and ripped into a shredding harmonica solo. Songs like How Long Can I Hide? and Summers Blues had the crowd in a trance of closed eyes and ceiling staring. This band have soul.

The baby-faced Blind Valley took the stage with cheeky grins from ear to ear in front of the biggest crowd of the night. The bassist's movements were animalistic with neck twitches and shoulder spasms. He was totally engrossed in the show – mind, body and soul. Their dangerous mix of ruthless blues-rock, influenced by heavy rockers such as Led Zeppelin, turned the crowd into a frenzy of legs and arms.

Facing a dwindling crowd, Perth band The Floors exploded onto the stage, ripened by their rider. They proved the nickname 'Bastards of Blues' right with their gritty, relentless blues as lead singer Luke Dux led the band and crowd down a dark alleyway where they thrashed and screamed of love and pain. Their set was an unforgiving string of downright dirty songs with You Got To Move and Aileen pounding the chests of the few that stuck around. The focus of the night though was the launch of their new album Dead Beat and Dux couldn't wait, yelling “Let's do Dead Beat” between three songs before they could let it loose.