Bridezilla at Beach Road, Bondi

A couple of weeks after I went to see Bridezilla (below) play their first headline show in Bondi, Drum Media ran the review. Here it is:On a wintry Sunday night in Bondi, Cassette Kids kicked off proceedings well enough. Sure, they offered nothing vaguely new, but vocalist Katrina (below) had plenty of fire in her belly and there are certainly worse bands to sound like than Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Be Your Own Pet.

Next, The Mares managed to sound like a different band with every song, which, while demonstrating their eclecticism, made their set seem all too incongruous. There were a few decent moments, but most tracks fell well wide of the mark in a disappointing performance from a band that should be setting their standards much higher than this.The perpetual positive press surrounding Sydney quintet Bridezilla ensured that the mood in the venue was one of excited anticipation by the time they took to the stage to play their first ever headline show, which began with violinist Daisy (below) prowling amongst the crowd during their instrumental opener, Intro. The band’s maturity, confidence and accomplished musicianship seem all the more remarkable when you consider the fact that this was their last gig for a few months because some of them need to concentrate on their HSCs.

During the 45-minute set, 16-year-old frontwoman Holiday (top picture) was at her most charismatic and sassy, breathing a sultry vocal, while drummer Josh was all smiles as usual. Daisy danced around the stage like a whirling dervish on violin, and there was a nice juxtaposition between the understated and enigmatic guitarist Pia and the wonderfully kooky saxophonist Millie.Dressed beautifully - like the coolest geeks in town, they were fun to watch and immeasurably enjoyable to listen to as they played atmospheric, interestingly-structured tunes that comprised elements of jazz and folk and created a sound which dissected The Dirty Three and The Velvet Underground. Tracks like the brooding Brown Paper Bag and the quirky Room 16 further illustrated the notion that no-one else on the scene comes anywhere close to sounding like Bridezilla.

After encoring with crowd-favourite Saint Francine, which was preceded by Holiday singing an impromptu version of Nancy Sinatra’s Sugar Town, the band left the stage to hollers of universal approval from a beguiled crowd. While they head back to the ordinariness of their school lives for the time-being, we eagerly await the return of this unique and genuinely exciting young band. Hurry back Bridezilla.