IT'S nights like this that drive home how sorely the Cambridge Hotel will be missed by the Newcastle music scene if the venue closes as anticipated next winter.
No other venue in Newcastle could deliver an evening of live music like the Mates Festival.
The evening was curated by Newcastle indie heavyweights Vacations, for their first hometown show in four years.
Since then the four-piece of Campbell Burns (guitar, vocals), Nate Delizzotti (guitar), Jake Johnson (bass) and Joey van Lier (drums) have made several trips overseas to play to their expanding US and European fan bases, released their second album Forever In Bloom and seen their 2016 single Young go viral with almost 250 million streams on Spotify.
However, the Mates Festival was about more than Vacations. It was a complete takeover of the Cambridge's main room, warehouse and front bar to showcase an eclectic mix of Novocastrian and Australian indie talent.
Newcastle's Mango Avenue are definitely a band to watch. Genuine charisma is an elusive element for most young indie-rock bands, but Mango Avenue vocalist Kurtis Long is brimming with it.
With an unbuttoned black shirt, tattoos and a confident grin, he looked quite the rock star. Long's raspy voice crooned through new single Polly and Catfish & The Bottlemen's 7, before ending with an electrifying rendition of their original Sexwax that had the warehouse moshing along to guitarist Jasper Connelly's cutting riff.
The crowd built up further for Teddie, aka Teleah Riordan, packing out the warehouse room.
Teddie's jazz and R'n'B-influenced brand of indie pop didn't quite translate to the stage. However, it cannot be denied that latest single Sleep In is a seriously good piece of pop songwriting.
Over in the main room Adelaide's pop-punk duo Teenage Joans whipped the crowd into a frenzy on their first visit to Newcastle.
Teenage Joans were bumped up the bill after Sydney band The Buoys were a late cancellation due to COVID and were replaced by Eliza & The The Delusionals.
"Where is the castle and how new is it?" Teenage Joans guitarist and vocalist Cahli Blakers asked the crowd.
As far as first impressions go, Teenage Joans left a lasting one. Their '90s brand of power chords and pop melodies is a solid gut punch of sound. Their 2020 triple j Unearthed High win wasn't by accident.
It also doesn't hurt that Blakers is an energetic and highly entertaining performer. She jumped, kicked and spun around the stage and at one point even licked her guitar fretboard.
Vacations' whimsical and '80s-inspired indie sound hasn't always translated well to the stage. You could never doubt the subtle beauty of frontman Campbell Burns' songwriting, but previous Newcastle performances have felt too insular and led to criticism that Vacations were a studio band.
That's not a charge that can be levelled at Vacations any longer. The 32-date tour of the US in March and April, and subsequent Australian tour, has turned the four-piece into far more confident performers.
Nate Delizzotti, wearing a Newcastle Jets shirt, was revelling in the hometown response, laying down his intricate riffs.
After a slightly sluggish start, Vacations really kicked off when Teddie joined them on stage with her saxophone for Telephones.
The set featured cuts from their albums Changes (2018) and Forever In Bloom (2020) and their popular 2016 EP Vibes. But it was the newer material like Actors and Avalanche which delivered the greatest energy as Campbell knowingly sang "It's so strange to even be here."
Burns also appeared genuinely shocked by the warm response as the crowd belted out "another day goes by", the opening line of their Spotify hit, Young.
Unfortunately the set didn't feature some of Vacations' best songs like Panache and Seasons, but as the band closed the night with two of their oldest tracks, Hamilton South and Relax, the audience didn't mind.
If the Mates Festival was about bringing the Newcastle music scene together in a friendly celebration, it was mission accomplished for Vacations.
