Cloud Control are an alternative rock band hailing from the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. The excitement of the bouncy guitarist and moving singer of Cloud Control on the Newcastle stage is touching, considering the success the Sydney four-piece have achieved back home. Their debut album, Bliss Release, won the Australian Music prize, down under’s answer to the Mercury, yet Cloud Control take on the stage with a palatable hunger to do well. It is the band's vocals, that set them apart from big-vista pop contemporaries such as Temper Trap. They take to the stage soaring into single Meditation Song #2 which bursts into scorching life. Its gently epic psych-folk charms splinter into shards of 60s garage all accompanied by the combo of three of their voices echoing and enchanting. Stand out track Ghost Story melted the boundaries between the band and audience, its whirry organ and winsome lyrics combined with a circular chorus - a genuine picnic of perfection. As they innocently twist and writhe their way through a fault free set, it rapidly becomes clear their expansive sound is more than capable of filling venues twice the size. Track That Is What I Said speeds along in a giddy, bass-driven, tambourine-sprinkled whirl, followed by the shimmering, chilly like gloom of My Fear #2. The brief encore was the standout jubilant anthem, There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight. After this performance there is no danger of Cloud Control falling into the background.

By Sophie Stratford