Velociraptor at Newtown Social Club Sydney Live Review

In what could easily be described as “organised chaos” the 12 piece popsters from Brisbane, whom brought seven of the gang (well, six if you exclude the disappearing act provided by their keyboardist, who did later return, we won’t ask…), tore through their set of shout along numbers, which their fans duly abided to.

With a mash-up of guitarists and with lead singer Jeremy Neale swapping the mike with whomever was interested in singing, it was easy to get lost in the wave of noise and disorder (good disorder) going on on stage.

Somehow it works. Their brand of loud, ruckus, blustering beats are simply a hullabaloo of noise, feeding the crowd with just enough energy to start mini-moshpits. Or maybe that was down to the amount of alcohol flowing around everyone inside the venue…

I mean, what kind of band can sing about sneakers, yes, their latest song is titled “Sneakers”, with one such young, inebriated fan holding both trainers aloft throughout the song, much to the delight of Neale and the rest of the audience. Good effort.

Blasting through tracks including “Hey Suzanne”, “Riot”, “Walk On By” and “Do the Ruby” – whereby drummer George took over mike responsibilities and pretty much nailed it – the crowd were getting sweatier by the minute, jumping around, swinging trainers and basically mimicking the party which was going on in front of them.

With some b-sides thrown in for good measure, there was more than enough songs to keep their fans smashing around in delight, drinks spilling everywhere. Even the support act “BLOODS” singer Sweetie Zamora took charge of track “One Last Serenade”  – as if they don’t have enough band members already! One more wouldn’t harm…

The finale showcased their single “Ramona” and low and behold, our mate Matt had snuck on stage to top off what was an entertaining show, by starting a full-blown stage invasion, encouraging as many of the crowd to join him in his moment of glory. And trust me, their fans did not need a seconds invitation to clamber on stage, sweat and drinks flying everywhere. A somewhat fitting end.

By Ash Leszczuk