The immortal and transcendental, God-like Rebecca Black once said that, ‘You gotta get down on Friday,’ and with nothing else to do (to be honest even if I did I would have probably chosen to go to this gig) there was nothing better I could think of, then to go and see the up and coming Bootleg Rascal. For the record, this band is great; the way they seem to escape any easy genre classification through their music’s blending of sweet sounds such as dub, reggae, roots, and hip hop, is so refreshing to listen to. Furthermore it allows them to craft their indistinguishable and unique sound, which is eminently fun and enjoyable to listen to. Needless to say, I was more than excited to venture into the Woolly Mammoth and have my eardrums gently massaged by their soulful tunes.

Before Bootleg, came IVEY. I had never heard of IVEY before that fateful night, but after hearing their set and watching their energetic live performance I’m sure that I’ll be seeing them again. The alternative pop, four-piece from The Gold Coast rolled out (with the lead singer sporting a blue feathered, cookie monster jacket that looked like it was taken straight out of Kevin Parker’s wardrobe) and played a solid support set that set the tone for the rest of the night. Their set, comprised of syncopated, jangly-alternative pop was incredibly fun to listen to and showed awesome musicianship that the crowed immediately bought into, with the dance floor filling up to the brim by the time they were finishing up with an awesome cover of INXS’ Devil Inside.

After a very short wait, the punters completely filling out the Woolly Mammoth suffused the room with enthusiastic cheers and a great applause for the treat that was Bootleg Rascal. Coming onto the stage they wasted no time, asking how we were all doing and jumping straight into smashing out some tunes. They continued the set as they began; bursting at the seams with energy, with the crowd loving every second of it, which boasted a mixture of tracks from Asleep in the Machine, as well as some older tracks from their previous EP. As the set went on, people began to loosen up more and attempted to stage dive (failing miserably) which cued a laughing Carlos (lead singer/guitarist) to instruct the crowd that they had to at least attempt to catch the people who jump if that manoeuvre is ever going to work. After what seemed like no time at all the set wrapped up, but the sold out crowd was begging for more and for a second it seemed like nothing would work and that it was time to go home, until the naked man appeared (perhaps an oracle? perhaps the divine power that drives Bootleg Rascal?) and almost instantaneously they were out on stage. If the crowd seemed loose before, it was nothing compared to the encore with everyone jumping on stage and having a dance with the band. However, a little pro tip; if you think it’s cool to text on stage, it’s not.

Aside from the people updating their check in on Facebook to the main stage at the Woolly Mammoth the gig was an awesome wave of great tracks and good vibes that I would highly recommend. Big ups to Bootleg Rascal and IVEY for a sick night. 

- Kacper Majchrowski