As I enter the halls of The Spotted Cow I’m pleasantly surprised to find a pretty full, but ambient and light-hearted bar. It seems that I have finally figured out where all the 20-somethings like me hang out for the thrilling nightlife in Toowomba. In all seriousness, I was pretty delighted to see the turn out of the night, whilst being welcomed by the singer-songwriter melodies off a tiny stage opposite the bar. Quickly though, I realized that this act was playing parallel to the show I was actually there for. Clearly, I must have seemed pretty confused as I approached the bigger venue, because the sociable owner of The Spotted Cow welcomes me and shows me the right way.

Babaganouj begins their upbeat and energetic party-skater-rock performance with enough enthusiasm to make up for their fashionable lateness. The quadruple consists of an excited drummer, vocalist and guitar player; and some solid girl power with two rocking females on the rhythm and bass guitar. The Brisbane quadruple easily overcomes the fact that the sound system does not do them real justice, through their vocal energy and instrumental talent. Busting out some of their old, astounding favourites like the tongue twister Love Loathe Love You, they don’t fail to entertain by joking throughout their set and creating a fun-loving atmosphere. The audience rather quickly fills up throughout the unique and quirky retro set, seemingly becoming fiery with excitement for the main act. Babaganouj clearly do a fantastic job of stirring up the party, and maintain smiles all around that are reflected by the crowd. 

The previously hollow halls of the The Spotted Cow, are now so packed that I’m forced to squeeze myself through the sweaty pits and fleshy bits of the clearly drunken mob. British India open their show, though extremely late, to a very thrilled audience. The set lists consists of some oldies like I Can Make You Love Me that stir up the rowdy sing-alongers even more, and some refreshing new songs such as Suddenly that still remain true to their indie-rock vibe. By the time that the musicians play hits like Safari and God Is Dead, Meet the Kids, they completely let the music overtake them, and the stage becomes an ocean of dancing instruments. The melodic tunes encounter rock, indie, alternative and even slightly electric sensations that force all listeners to move along, with lyrics that are nearly too thoughtful for nights like this. The four musicians’ stage presence is amazing; their uninhabited movements and the wild flicking of their hair inspires the crowd to simultaneously clap, dance and power along. By the time they sing Spider Chords, which could be considered a slower number of the show; a huge mosh pit has broken out throughout ¾ of the crowd. That mosh pit lasted for the entire rest of the show, and only grew larger. British India delivered and impeccable performance, and it’s rare to see such passion, skill and what seemed to me, genuine love for performing. The deep love that they received from all listeners was well deserved.

The ecstatic show concluded with an unreal cover of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name, which was the perfect ending to their show. Even though my night ended with holding packs of ice on my friend’s bruised foot(some fellow moshpitters got a bit too excited), it was an excellent one and I’d definitely recommend seeing British India. 

- Tara Zupp