I'm a ring-in for this review so I wont apologise for missing acoustic act Matt Walker and Ashley Davies, and I'll do my best to dredge up the rest of the performances from my ravaged memory. Snout were into their set by the time I got there, but bassist/singer Ross having a bit of an off night. The natives were getting restless while Ross took time to replace a pesky broken string. He then hit a few bum notes and couldn't seem to regain his composure for the rest of the set. 

But to casual observer, the band took the improv in their stride. Having said that, I'm a sucker for Snout's groovy latest album, Circle High And Wide. Its soaring, soothing bass-driven pop noodling with a TV screen sensibility is useless to resist. Besides, it's a treat to see usually super cool Ross lose it then work hard to get it back.

The Arena was pretty full (but not uncomfortably so) when the Cruel Sea came on to give us an effortlessly polished performance that shows why they deserve to be one of Australia's premier acts. The Cruel Sea sure have changed since the last time I saw them (which was a while back now). Instead of the Tex Perkins Show, tonight Brisbane boy Tex took a back seat (like he does on the latest album) and it was simply a full band effort. The Cruel Sea played numbers from their excellent new album Over Easy: Hard Times, Runnin', duet with keyboardist James Cruikshank, Only Falling Water, finishing with dubby Welcome. They peppered the set with some of their earlier material and saved the Honeymoon is Over for the very last encore. Overall a fantastic night that compelled me to shake my thang. If you like to groove, you'd be a fool to miss them next time.