This weekend saw Merivale and Furphy’s massive free music venture See Sound kick off, with a pair of gigs happening at the Vic on the Park in Marrickville and The Royal in Bondi.
Staunch advocates for free gigs ourselves, we shambled down to The Royal on Saturday to see what the fuss was all about. As expected, the night was a treat.
Live acts, DJs, drinks, and good times: Merivale and Furphy put on one hell of a free show at The Royal over the weekend.
First up was Sloan Peterson, hot off the release of her debut album Midnight Love, Vol 2. Peterson always brings an inimitable vibe to the stage and this night was no exception, her starry-eyed take on garage pop hypnotising all who wandered by.
Rock’n’roller Leroy Francis followed Peterson with plenty of gusto, treating crowds to a set brimming with woozy guitar tunes from his debut EP S.O.R.E and beyond. Francis has been a staple of the inner west circuit for some time now, so seeing him catch a few new fans was a treat.
As the bands packed their gear up it was time for the discs to start spinning, and first up was DJ Danial. The man behind the moniker was Daniel Stricker of Midnight Juggernauts, who curated the night’s entertainment alongside World Champion’s Julian Sudek.
Feet were moving as he whizzed through some classic tunes, taking the electricity in the air and multiplying it like a pro.
With the crowd well and truly buzzing, Jack Moffitt of The Preatures climbed aboard the booth and took things home with a back-to-back playlist of utter facemelters. Moffitt’s no stranger to the DJ circuit and it showed… he could have played for another two hours and nobody would have batted an eyelid.
The vibe of a free night is always special, it brings out those who would otherwise kick it at home and people who made the last-minute decision that yeah, tonight’s a night to get down. If this is the yardstick for the rest of these See Sound gigs to come, you’ll see our faces at many of them.
Check out the full See Sound 2019 schedule here.
