Showstoppr

First time seeing them headline after a run of support slots and it suits them — more room to stretch the songs out than a 25-minute opening set ever allowed. Small crowd but a loud one.

Sampler night ahead of Fringe proper, three acts doing twenty minutes each. Nadia Kaur's twenty minutes were tighter than most people's full hours. Good way to scout who's worth a full ticket this Fringe — my money's already on Nadia and Greta.

Acoustic-leaning set, much smaller room than their usual, and it worked way better for me than the full-band show a few months back — turns out I just needed to hear the songs without quite so much reverb on everything.

Redeemed themselves completely after the safe NYE setlist — this was almost entirely new record, and it's clearly the stronger material. Whoever mixed the room tonight deserves a mention too, best I've heard the Corner sound in ages.

Big step up in venue for them and they didn't shrink at all — if anything the Palais's room sound suits the bigger arrangements on the new songs better than a pub band room would. Genuinely one of the best local shows I've caught this year.

Vela Drift touring up from Melbourne and the Brightside crowd was clearly ready for it — biggest response I've seen for a touring support-turned-headliner act here in a while. Little Static opened, decent enough, felt like a slightly quieter version of the headline set.

Told you she'd get a full hour eventually — caught her supporting Dom Ferraro last year and she's clearly been saving material since. First headline show and there's barely a weak stretch in it. Go before the room size doubles.

Free council festival but the lineup punched well above what that usually gets you. The Understudies played early afternoon to a small crowd and honestly outdid the headliner. Sound bled a bit between the two stages when the wind picked up, minor gripe for a free day out.