10 October 2011 (gig)
11 October 2011
Four-piece Cloud Control looked like nothing more than a casual group of friends as they took to the stage, summing up their laid-back presence in one fell swoop, something that would later define a homely sound from the down-under quartet.
While lead singer Alister and synth player Heidi's Aussie accents were enough to make a pasty-faced Brit jealous of the band's heritage, who had clearly brought a glow from their homeland to a duller Autumn in Birmingham.
The audience began to light up even more, as the the sounds from Gold Canary gave a dreamy, orange-tinted vision of the past, complete with trippy pitch-bending synths. The 60s had truly returned in sweeping glimmers, trailed by Alister's vintage fuzz toned guitar, which resonated through The Rainbow just enough to keep the crowd warm, making them completely forget about the bitter wind that was triumphing outside, and focus on a nostalgic summer.
This is What I Said bubbled up in the sounds of a sunset, a perfect song to soundtrack a June Solstice, or daze more about the wonders of a paradisal, nature-fuelled, green Australia. As Alister's joy-bouncing guitar riff reminisced The La's - There She Goes, to reflect a high spirited sparkle on the audience's faces.
Bringing back the vibes of the just-past festival season, which most fans had longed to experience again, Cloud Control are more than capable of amplifying next year's season, simply with their track There's Nothing in the Water We Can't Fight, which delved into a psychedelic wave of hypnotic beats, glued together by Alister, Heidi and bassist Jeremy's folk/boho vocals.
Fusing the wonders and creativity of the bygone hippie-era, Cloud Control provide a whole new flourishing sunshine which will destroy the winter blues in an instant.
