Dave Wright & the Midnight Electric @ The Spotted Mallard, 26 April 2015

It's legitimately thrilling to watch a band -- any band -- set up and play before a crowd of people who know nothing about them. Of course it helps if those assembled are enjoying a 'tap takeover' sponsored by a local brewing company and, perhaps, have been enjoying the nectar of those taps for a few hours. Still, what happens when a band of rock and roll troubadours take the stage at a hipster enclave in a hipster 'hood full of folks drinking hipster beer?

They rock the fucking house. That's what.

At Brunswick's Spotted Mallard on Sunday night, Dave Wright and the Midnight Electric boiled up a brew of amplified hootch that complemented the official launch of Nail Brewing's Beazle Brew 2015 like a shot of private batch bourbon.

Sunday's show was the first of 2015 for Dave and the boys. It was also the debut of Midnight Electric's new drummer, trumpeter and band-first saxophonist. You'd expect some rust after a 4-month hiatus but I didn't hear it -- by night's end the dance floor was full of punters working up a sweat on a cold Sunday evening.

Tim, Dave and Rob acknowledge the big sound coming from their augmented horn section.

Dave told the crowd of having the privilege of accompanying his grandfather -- a WWII veteran -- in a '67 Mustang to the previous day's Anzaz Day memorial at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance. 

Eight guys on a small stage.

Dancers aplenty.

The band's next gig is Thursday at The LuWOW, which bills itself as 'A Tiki Cocktail Paradise in the Heart of Melbourne'. Sounds like another place in need of a shot of motherfuckin' DWME bourbon.

Dave's got a new t-shirt for 2015, too. Available for purchase at gigs. If you're unlucky I'll be the guy selling it to you. Nonetheless, pick one up. They look fantastic, especially when worn by the lovely Odette (below).