Live Review: Tijuana Cartel, Mojo Juju, Coda Chroma

Coda Chroma open the night with light melodies on the acoustic guitar, egg shaker and synth. The duo plays to a small cluster of punters and at the end of their set are joined by Tijuana Cartel's DJ, Carey O'Sullivan, dropping a house beat.

Mojo Juju takes the stage solo, announcing she is without her band, and brings a down-tempo blues vibe. The chatty crowd slowly filling the room is restless with the choice of tempo; it's Friday night and the punters have come to party. The androgynous singer sticks to the traditional sound of swampy blues throughout her set with passionate vocals. She strums a steel-string acoustic guitar, with soundhole pickup, and at times switches to electric. While the crowd chatter distracts from her performance, our attention is not demanded from the stage. She ends her set with a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You.

Tijuana Cartel's lead vocalist and guitarist, Paul George, wears a black hat and black shirt. O'Sullivan, drops world-beat music with a harmonic element and George strums a Latin guitar. The punters do exactly what they came to do: dance to the up-tempo festival vibes. The set is driven by house beats, infused with trumpet, percussion and George's fast picking, which evokes the feeling of a Spanish guitar. George jumps onto an amp and asks, "Who's going to raise the roof tonight?" The crowd cheers and dances to the Latin grooves. They dedicate a song to magic mushrooms and then play a new song. O'Sullivan joins George front of stage, with an electric guitar. George announces, "We've been playing together for 25 years," to a cheering crowd. Then O'Sullivan returns behind the decks and they play White Dove and Run Away. George declares his love for hip hop and drops a quick rap at the end of the set. The crowd whistles and cheers as Tijuana Cartel leave the stage before George jumps back up to announce they'll play two more songs. Punters dance, chat and hug as the show wraps up. Overall, it's an even performance.