Gig Review - Deep Sea Arcade and Hey Geronimo

Deep Sea Arcade

Live @ The Zoo, Brisbane (27/09/13)

Supported by Hey Geronimo and Morning Harvey
Words by Jo Michelmore
Pics by Cordell Sanders

I did something I loved and I did something I hated on Friday night. The thing I loved was watch some live music. The thing I hated was arrive late. The unfortunate thing is, sadly, I have a day job as well as a blog job which means sometimes, every now and then, I don't get to see some music I love or music I could love. Curse you day job!

Arriving late this night meant I didn't get to see a band I've been wanting to catch for a little while now, Brisbane's own Morning Harvey. From all conversations, they were great and I didn't get to see the greatness. How tragic. Let's say this then; if you get a chance to see Morning Harvey, send me a facebook message and let me know what they were like? Oh, their retro sounds and moody lyrics, they're a band I need to see...

What I did arrive in time to see was a band I knew I already liked, but didn't quite know how much. They took to the stage with a confidence of a band who had been doing this for years, opening with their latest single 'Lazer Gun Show' they started their set with a fistful of energy and didn't slow down the entire time they were on stage.

I couldn't quite decide which era I had been transported to, a little bit 60s surf rock, a little bit 80s fun rock, a little bit current indie pop, this is a band that have such a confidence about their skills and genuinely seem to love playing music with each other, at times I almost felt like I was interrupting a conversation between friends and I wanted to be in Hey Geronimo too! They seemed so happy to be on stage it was infectious, I found myself stupidly smiling at some moments, but I guess while I might have looked a little foolish you can't help but love a band that make you smile. 

Smashing through catchy song after catchy song, it's hard to pinpoint my fave. 'Carbon Affair' was a super cute pop song whose quick beats and mood changes translated so well live, but I'm going to have to say there is nothing more impressive than a band that pulls off the teeniest amount of choreography and the small bouncing bits in 'Co-Op Bookshop' made me totally happy. Hey Geronimo are a band I will definitely be seeing again, because if this is how much fun they have every gig, I need to be there. Like, actually, I need to be there. Fun. Love.

After Hey Geronimo's cute guitar pop set, Deep Sea Arcade take to the stage looking like a real rock band, all hair and skinny jeans and lead singer Nic McKenzie looks like every rock star should, a black frilled shirt, skinny black jeans and floppy hair, I knew when he sauntered up to his microphone stand I was in for a rock treat. I wasn't disappointed.

They power through a set that is all loud, all awesome and all rock. The new single 'Black Cat' is even better live than I expected, if it hadn't been for the mobile phones around me trying to capture some of the magic I feel like I might have been transported to a club sometime in the 70s. The bass line in 'The Devil Won't Take You' begins the track and holds on throughout the entire song, Nick Weaver is completely mesmerising on stage, I imagine he walks the streets like a stage, some people just seem to have that 'thing' that rock musicians do and he has a bucket load of it, which is awesome to watch.

The guitars on 'Steam' are awesome, like all of their songs, they take you to another era, a place far from now without sounding old, but the band really shine on 'Lonely In Your Arms', with a drum beat that keeps me nodding solidly throughout and 'Keep On Walkin' was a crowd pleaser, it's almost impossible not to love a band smiling and bouncing to a song like it's the first time they played it.

I'm going to admit something here, and say that I was a little distracted for a portion of the gig, as I watched guitarist; James Mason's iphone fall from an amp and land on the stage. For the next couple of songs I couldn't help but stare, with my hands in nervous fists and whimpering slightly every time his feet got close to it, a couple of times standing on the screen. Kudos to the apple company for making a phone that survived the large boots of a guitarist at a rock show...


Finishing by trashing the stage and throwing their mic stands and cords around is a classic way to end a rock show and Deep Sea Arcade don't disappoint. Maybe they didn't think things through completely when they had to return to the stage to play an encore and had to de-tangle themselves from the mess they created, but these are the things that make live music so fun and so intriguing to watch. This was rock n roll in every sense of those words and it was an absolute pleasure to watch Deep Sea Arcade and their own brand of rock. If they keep playing gigs like these, I expect next time I see them the venue will be a little bigger, the music even louder and the rock even rockier, if that's possible. The things that I loved on Friday night were fun and rock, and I hope I get to love them again very soon.

You can check out the rock for yourself on their Welcome Home and Black Cat Launch tour at

Friday, October 4 at The Metro, Sydney - tickets at Ticketek
Saturday, October 5 at Ed Castle, Adelaide - tickets at moshtix
Sunday, October 6 at Amplifier, Perth - tickets at oztix
Saturday October 12 at The Corner Hotel, Melbourne - tickets at ticketscout
December 6, 7 and 8 at Homebake Festival, Sydney - tickets at oztix

and you can check out some a gallery of pics over at facebook and also on the instagrams!