Charlotte and the Harlots

... with Bad Lunar, Northbourne and Sonic Reducer

As much as the Canberra music has matured over the past 20 years, most venues are bars and so most shows are 18+. Through some miracle, the Charlotte and the Harlots album launch was switched to all ages, which meant I could bring my 16yo along to his first ever live gig.

Live at the Polo is a venue close to home for me, but I hadn’t been before. The stage is quite high and draped with red curtains, giving it a school hall/Twin Peaks red room kinda vibe. I wasn’t freaking out. Honestly.

First up were Sonic Reducer, a pretty raw punk 3 piece who were surprisingly good. My son looked at me wide-eyed and said something to the effect of “I can’t believe these guys are a local band, they’re amazing!”. Live music, man.

I seriously hope I get to see these guys live again, and/or that they get something recorded.

Next up were Northbourne, a high energy, grungey mob who did a fantastic job a tearing up the stage amidst a stream of gear failures. They were my son’s favourites of the night.

Despite being fairly newly formed, Bad Lunar seemed to have quite a few fans in the audience and nailed their set.

Other than Witchskull, the lighting for the Harlots set was probably the hardest I’ve had to work with. It looked great in person, but the pinks were tough to work with. The high stage meant I was either shooting “up” a lot, or backing up and shooting over the crowd to try to open up the angle. I did manage to get some I was happy with, though.

Charlotte herself has an undeniable stage presence, and as expected, the whole band delivered a blistering, enjoyable set which the crowd loved.

Best of all, my son walked away from the whole event completely hooked on live music and chomping at the bit for more.

Full gallaries: Sonic Reducer | Northbourne | Bad Lunar | Charlotte and the Harlots