Anyone with half a brain will tell you that a band’s chemistry is not measured in songs written, albums recorded or by how well they perform together on stage.
Nope, the best indication of a band’s chemistry is actually best measured by how many animals, accents or celebrities one member can guess the names of using the kind of scattershot clues that a rapid fire game of Heads Up elicits from their bandmate. No other fact is truer than this.
For the uninitiated, Heads Up is perhaps the greatest thing Ellen Degeneres has gifted unto the world. The joy one experiences playing it is rivalled only by Ellen’s irrefutable joie de vivre, or her propensity for dancing down each and every aisle life presents to her – supermarket aisles, planes, weddings, whatever. Ostensibly, it’s an app available on the store best aligned with your personal brand; in reality, it’s so much more than that.
At last Sunday’s Sydney leg of St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, we decided to put some of our favourite acts – Dune Rats, Ratking and Highasakite are featured in this first instalment – through the ringer of Heads Up to reveal which bands have what it takes to make it on the world stage [of guessing games] and beyond.
Part II is coming soon, but for now, observe:
Laneway rolls into Adelaide, Melbourne (sold out) and Fremantle this weekend. For more info and tickets head here; for an eleventh hour prep guide to getting the most out of Laneway in your city, cast your eyes over our guide here.
