Beat It

Friday night at The Silver Dollar promised to be more dance-y than your typical Indie show given the acts on the bill. Amazingly, it was relatively full (50 or so) even for the early set; probably due to the promise of free beer before 10. Indeed, you got 1 drink ticket at the door with a promise of more if you wanted. But after a sip of the skunky Pistonhead, I left the rest untouched.

Twist was a duo comprised of members from Holy Fuck and the BB Guns. Though their drum sampler did provide thumpy beats, their guitars and lyrics were mostly taken from the Indie songbook. Reasonable on other nights, but did not provide enough butt-moving energy. Nyssa was the highlight for me. This one-woman act, assured and mesmerising on stage, was Nine Inch Nails circa Head Like A Hole but sexier. Over industrial beats, her husky voice painted despair and hopelessness. But the repeating refrains and insistent rhythm got the crowd dancing along, an unusual sight on the local scene.

I would have stayed for the campy fun of Jef Barbara and the unusual Lido Pimienta but the amateurish talk-rap and drone-sing of Bizzarh killed the vibe for me. When one of their friends, complete with baseball cap and arm signs, told the sound tech to "turn it up" (their iPod backing track), the look he got was priceless.