Hockey – Live at the Hi-Fi Bar : Gig Review

Every so often you catch wind of a band that you can enjoy, knowing many music lovers have never heard of them.  A band that you know will undoubtedly soon explode, but for now, you’re lucky enough to catch them when they’re still trying to breakthrough.  Enter Hockey, an American new-wave band from Oregon, USA who are currently touring Australia for the first time.

Having blown away crowds at Australia’s various Laneway Festivals , Hockey’s unique brand of Dance Punk/Indie/Rock transformed Melbourne’s Hi-Fi bar into an indie Dance machine.  And a good one at that.

Considering the lack of support (The Cassette Kids had to cancel due to illness) and having spent a good two hours waiting, the crowd were more than ready to move once Hockey adorned the stage.

The mood was immediately set, and, donning a real feather earring, front man Benjamin Grubin had everyone’s attention.  With all the moves a good front man should, Grubin regularly relinquished the microphone in exchange for drumsticks, joining in on an extended kit.  And in these moments, it was the bands turn to let their music do the talking, with bass, guitar and keyboard solos a plenty.

Hockey - Rocking Out In Melbourne

What Hockey have at such an early stage is belief, and many new-wave bands of today seem to miss this as they’re too focused on their look.  Hockey knew what they were doing and they believed in what they’re playing.  They weren’t posing, weren’t fake, and as a result, the audience believed IN them.  Described as The Strokes meets LCD Soundsystem, Hockey’s dance-infused rock tunes were a perfect fit with their onstage presence and they were undoubtedly in their element.

Touring off what is their debut album, Mind Chaos, Hockey’s set was packed with tunes from the record and the crowd had clearly listened over and over and over.  When crowd favourites Song Away, Curse This City and single Too Fake were masterfully played, and a throng of smiling faces embellished the crowd as the room began to sing along.

If there is one thing that Hockey need to work on, it’s their stage presence in between tunes.  Bands these days like to let the music do the talking, sure, but with little to no stage banter and long periods of dead silence, tuning guitars, Hockey let the atmosphere weaken momentarily which played against them as they started their next tune.  The audience were left to chatter amongst themselves which interrupted the first few lines of their next song.  Aside from this, their show could have only improved if Wayne Gretzky was in the audience.  And at the rate Hockey are going, that might not be too far off.  (Come on, I had to slip in one NHL Hockey reference…)

All in all, Hockey’s live set proved to live up to the sounds from their debut album, Mind Chaos and it’s refreshing to see some great new music breaking through the indie rock scene. But beware, I suggest you go out and buy their CD and catch their shows and get in on it all, before you’re fighting guys wearing shell necklaces for a ticket to see their next tour!

Mind Chaos is out at all good record stores now.