The Night Before (Great Sounds Great) 2026
Five fresh acts, two venues, one big night for The Night Before
We caught Elly Mae, Nameless and Brainless, Dale Kerrigan, re:ruby and girls factory play across two venues in Newtown as part of Great Sounds Great's "The Night Before" festival.
Elly Mae opened at Newtown Community Centre, a dreamy three-piece somewhere in Hope Sandoval / Mazzy Star territory, sounding assured on stage.
Over at Moon, Nameless and Brainless followed with a tight, competent live band doing rap reminiscent of Avondale or Home Brew Crew. One cheesy hands-in-the-air moment aside, a few more hooks would lift it further.
Back at Newtown Community Centre, Dale Kerrigan were loud but droning, an early Sonic Youth without the direction, Russian Circles without the discipline. Too loose to really land.
re:ruby, at Moon, brought real hooks and melody, early Fur Patrol at first, drifting into something more sombre, Marianne Faithfull by mid-set. Nice compositions, brave enough to go off-piste but tight enough to bring it home again. Pixies-esque at times, maybe a touch of Veruca Salt. Very good, though the transitions between songs could be tighter.
girls factory closed the night at Moon with high energy and a furry dancer in tow, chaotic, wide-ranging, packed the floor and had smiles all over the place.
