There's something about Sunday night performances, they generally instil a nice chilled out sort of feeling and the vibe at The Toff In Town tonight was no exception. With only two acts performing on the bill, it was definitely looking to be a rather relaxed evening.

Opening proceedings was Tessa and The Typecast whom could be best likened to Kate Miller-Heidke in vocals and also in style, with a catchy pop sensibility in her songwriting and also performing. The song "Happy" could easily translate to mainstream radio, whilst "In My Pocket" is a little folkish ditty to the more fast-paced material that littered her set. For a front-girl Tessa is quite enamouring, and the audience was very warm to her performance.

The opening vocal harmonies of Nicholas Roy and his band on "Dangerous Game" drew us all in and once the curtains opened up his debut album launch was officially under way. The opening number cranked out on guitar had a much more solid and intense feel compared to its recorded counterpart which is normally played on keys. The almost jazzy upbeat tracks of "Miss You" and "Jessica" contrasted nicely against the brooding "This Is How We Go Out" or vocally dark "Black Dog", the latter two songs being touted as tracks off his debut album "...in a shoebox under the bed". It's evident that Nicholas Roy has plenty of live performance experience under his belt, as the set had a nice consistent flow to it; and he's also a little bit of a charmer, introducing us to his calico doll mascot Voi and then passing it down to an excitable audience member. It also seems to be a more common occurrence that classical instruments, in this particular case a cello, are being used live, as was the case tonight with both acts. String instruments always seem to add a unique softer texture to songs that would normally sound a lot edgier. The pace got picked up for "Annie", a fun little number about that crazy girl we all know, which showcased Adam Coad's punchy drums and Owen Downie's throbbing bass.

One of the only detractions for this particular evening was that the sound mix near the back of the room sounded muddier than in the middle, which is surprising since The Toff normally sounds clear all the way through. Regardless of this, we were kept entertained, and just before the encore we were all encouraged to stand up out of our seats and dance for "Everybody's Talking". Tonight's album launch not only showcased Nicholas Roy's ability to blend indie pop/rock with some electro-synth style sounds but also songs that were varied in dynamic and feel, a promising and solid effort.

















 

I knew that this show would be a spectacle, and it was definitely that. From beginning to end we were treated to a concert that slipped between musical theatre and cabaret, fashion and rock show. The upside to all of this fanfare is that it really is a feast for the eyes, but this also makes it its downfall. With so much happening on stage it becomes difficult to focus on anything. There were all these dancers running backwards and forwards and the band were split between one congregation on stage left, and another on stage right. The costumes were phenomenal but the changes were perhaps bordering on the too numerous, despite their relevance to the show as a whole. The production and lighting were great, however the sound was a little bit too heavy on the bass on our side of the arena.

I would definitely think that shows of this calibre are worth seeing, though I'm still not sure if I can totally justify a $150 ticket price.

To cap off my trifecta of East coast capital city album launch dates for Expatriate and their debut LP "In The Midst Of This" on a spontaneous crazy whim I ventured to Melbourne for an overnight jaunt to take in this gig.
We seem to be fortunate in Sydney that our gig start times are earlier so we can actually get home to bed sooner but this gig didn't kick off til 9pm, with the Expats due onstage at 11:30pm - ouch!
Local openers Dance With Voices I didn't manage to see much of, I was out in the front bar area devouring my dinner but as the bar door swung open occasionally I managed to catch snippets and strains of what sounded not too dissimilar to New Order and other synth-electro-rock acts like that. Will definitely keep my eyes and ears out for those guys.
Owen from Bit By Bats came out strutting a new blonde hair-do and a little more swagger than at the Brisbane or Sydney shows, maybe because this was their hometown and they had the upper hand. The first row or two didn't seem to get into it as much a I expected, but regardless of this the guys still performed with a might and power that I didn't see at their other two efforts. During their last song Owen even managed to knock over his theremin machine in a frantic guitar solo that sent feedback ringing through the room.

So I'm not 100% sure if this gig was a sell-out or not, but if it wasn't, it was pretty damn close to it. Packed into the room and pressed up against an icky barricade we stood there engrossed. I definitely think out of the three album launches I attended this night sounded the best. Afterwards I discussed this with my friend Trevor, and we came to the conclusion that it was because the bass and kick drum were actually softer than everything else, resulting in a mix that wasn't so distorted even from the front row. Initially this could've been considered detrimental but upon further thought it was probably advantageous as it enabled Damian's synth to be heard a lot clearer. The moment of the night belonged to Ben and Damian though when they performed "You Were There" in spectacular brooding style, this song can be so powerful and yet tender at the same time. Once again I couldn't pick between the two guitar solos - Damian's "Play A Part" was electrifying but Ben's "Times Like These" had me sucked in too. By this time I was all ready for "Are You Awake" to make its mid-set appearance and for once, I was comfortable with its set locale. Ben's venture out into the crowd was later described by Ben as "a religious experience - a parting of the human sea" and the photograph is quite eerily like it too. Probably not their most energetic of performances overall but considering that on previous trips to Melbourne the guys didn't pull big crowds, this was a good turn-around for them.

 

   

   

 

The Zoo and Brisbane's live music scene was a whole new territory for me to explore. Thankfully I was in good company with Tom Murphy from Brisbane band The Bloodpoets to show me around before we made our way to the venue. The interesting thing is that Brisbane has some stark stereotypes, and some really bizarre fashion sense, I'm not sure if this is just what The Valley has to offer after dark or if this is the norm. Either way, the odd crowd seemed to have followed us down to The Zoo, and after making our almost grand-entrance into the room, took up a barrel (they have empty keg barrels as stools for you to rest your drinks on) and talked until the supports showed up.

One of the guys from Yves Klein Blue had been ringing me repeatedly at work getting worksheet details and the like. Whenever he rang I had to bother the poor guy multiple times to spell out the name of his band so here's a word to the wise for all you muso kids - don't pick such ridiculously weird band names that you can't spell out phonetically, it's just confusing for us receptionists! Anyways, on to the music - these guys sounded a bit like a really weird version of Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes with a touch of The White Stripes. The unfortunate thing is that they were a rather pale imitation of all of those bands, mainly because they took the influence without injecting their own spirit into it. Instead it was a jumbled mish-mash of all of the afore-mentioned without sounding new or unique. Clearly Tom and I were in a smaller minority of those who didn't dig it though, coz the 3-4 deep row of Brisbanites lining the front of the stage were lapping it up.
The guys from Bit By Bats I found to be a little more engaging this time around, but my previous comment about their music droning on still stands. Tom and I both noticed an ongoing repeated drum beat that seemed to follow suit through all their songs and I still could barely understand a word singer Owen was saying which also resulted in me tuning out part-way through. This time though I could definitely see the appeal as to why people like them, it's just not something that I dig is all.

The Expatriate guys were rather surprised to see me there down the front in Brisbane of all places. Ben's slightly more relaxed demeanour during set-up indicated to me that they were set to have another good show, and any jitters about playing another sold-out venue weren't evident. When they opened the set tonight, I mistook the opening strains of "Only Wanna Love Ya" for "Deadman" for a good 10 seconds in until I snapped out of it. It was weird, coz it was only then in that moment that I noticed the similarity of the bass line for those two songs. Tonight I managed to have one of those nights where I go a little crazy and wild - lots of dancing, jumping and cheering ensued and I'm sure I may have weirded out Tom a little with my antics. However tonight I didn't have to fend off any drunken dickheads and had my own little space to groove in so I was back in my true Expatriate-fandom element. I wasn't the only one going nuts though as it turned out Dave had developed a very Tigger-pogo-like-jumping habit which lasted almost the entire show. I don't know where he got the energy from but that boy was going hell for it as he throbbed out those bass chords. This time around I also paid particular attention to Ben's guitar solo during "Times Like These" which now for me rivals Damian's guitar solo in "Play A Part" --- oooh so hard to pick which one I prefer! The highlight of the night was when during "Are You Awake" Ben took to the dancefloor, hopping offstage next to where I was standing and taking a walk through the crowd (as is his habit if the stage permits). I assisted with his mic cord, feeding it through to trail behind him and the cord seriously just kept on going and going - as did Ben - who I think made it in to the crowd some 10 metres away from the stage. Upon his return to hop back onstage he obviously miscalculated the stage height and myself and the guy next to me ended up helping him up where he finished off the song. As opposed to the Sydney show, their Everything But The Girl cover of "Missing" featured as the song directly after the encore and they even managed to get one of the Yves Klein Blue boys up to play guitar on it too. I think it took the Brisbanites by surprise but half-way into the song they'd warmed to it. They closed things off with "The Spaces Between" which still gets everybody dancing and going spastic, the beauty of it is that song hasn't aged a moment. Definitely had the most fun at this gig I've had in a long while!

 

   

   

  

 

So here's my almost shameful love of pop music making itself apparent. I definitely went into this with some trepidation - a bunch of 4 white-as-white boys singing Motown? Come on! I'll give credit where credit is due though, and these guys managed to nail almost all of the songs they did with real style and kept fairly true to their origins. They are also one of Australia's leading (and majorly commercial successful) vocal groups, so for what they do, they truly are the best - no denying that either. This was not just a little show though, it came with a hefty 10-piece band and massive lighting production and a stage plonked in the dead centre of the arena for a lovely 'in-the-round' effect. The jokes early on into the performance were so cliched they were painful but these guys are singers not actors (well Toby on baritone is, but let's not go there). There was also a helluva lot of dancing by these guys - of course most of the choreography (by notable Tapdogger Dein Perry) was lifted straight out of the Motown and 70's era so again this clashed with their white-suburban boy image a little. Their little medley tribute to Marvin Gaye was an interesting focal point, and the crowd participation by getting a bunch of white fellas up on stage to dance was amusing. All in all this was a good night out, and upon leaving and eyeing off the demographic exiting the venue, clearly these guys and their Motown-covering-ways have a very broad appeal which I found very surprising - who'da thunk that black music would be so popular in Sydney eh?

 

It's hard to focus on support acts when you're itching for the headline, but I was determined to try and stay open-minded this night. The kids from Soft Tigers look like they're barely out of high-school, their music reflects this to a degree, as it doesn't seem to have any sort of focus or direction and flits between styles and genres. This seems to be a recurring thing with a lot of these young indie bands nowadays where you can't quite categorise them as anything. This makes it difficult to try and liken them to anybody but this doesn't always equate to being unique either - it just makes them odd. It would also do well if they could manage to limit their dependence on technology, coz once something dies onstage it's almost impossible to save face. Bit By Bats next, and this was when the true madness started. A bunch of inebriated 20-something guys (and the odd girl) decided to start a crazy little mosh - right next to where me and my posse were standing. I tried to stay focused on the music but not only was I getting jostled but I was finding that the songs were droning on one after another. I decided to give up on the idea of attempting to enjoy their performance about 3 songs in.

There was a temporary respite from the moshpit madness whilst Expatriate set up. I still find it rather intriguing that the boys are setting their own gear up, and it's always my favourite part of watching them - it's easy to see how the gig will fare depending on their pre-gig mood. When they disappeared we were left to own our devices for at least another 15 minutes before they returned to open the show. "Only Wanna Love Ya" kicked things off and this song has a nice thumpy little beat that should get everybody dancing. The only problem was it incited our moshpit mates into a bit too much of a frenzy and for the entire set my friend's Kari, Tammy and I were repeatedly jumped on, pushed, shoved and all sorts of other irritable actions. It got to the point where we were so fed up with it that the only way to get some sort of relief was to shove back. It only served to help me vent my fury but didn't alleviate the issue at hand which was the fact that these drunken dickheads weren't going to stop. Honestly, it's hard to enjoy a show when guys who are almost double your height, and weight, keep knocking you over, and we've never had it that bad at previous Expatriate gigs. The other thing that struck me during their performance was "Are You Awake"'s sudden appearance mid-set. I've been so acquainted with that song as the set and show closer that having it in the middle just didn't sit right with me. However the guys made up for this by closing the entire affair with a cover of Everything But The Girl's "Missing". I initially had my reservations about this song, as I'm such a diehard fan of the original, but by the end of it, I was truly sold. Overall, it was evident that the sold-out hometown crowd was a real injection into the band's confidence as they performed with such fervour as I'd not seen in a long while.

 

  

 

When we walked into the room, we were greeted by the sounds of a singular man onstage performing a song purely with his own voice. Mr Percival is a truly unique musical entity, creating songs out of his own voice and utilising a pedal loop to cut and paste the sounds on top of themselves. It's hard to put into words a proper and adequate description of this act, so I recommend you all go check out his MySpace page (see link above) and go see him live - the crowd participation bits are worth it alone.

Katie Noonan is best regarded for her stunning almost operatic vocal range. The interesting thing is that her new solo material that she's delving into doesn't focus so much on this beautiful instrument of hers. The new songs she performed had a more earthy and soul feel, which of course was helped in part by her new band. The onstage band consisted of well known talents - Darryl Beaton (keys), Carl Dimataga (guitar), and Declan Kelly (drums) to name a few - who all insert their own skill into the peformance. This new direction in her music is definitely a leap away from her work with george and their contemporary roots, or Elixir's jazz vibe or Spook's etherealness. It definitely wasn't offputting to any of her fanbase who had definitely filled the chair-laden room of The Factory. I found that some of her newer material did seem to blend into one another after a while, and there maybe wasn't enough diversity for a first-time listen but I'm sure given a bit of a tweak to the set-list this could be easily recitifed. It will be interesting to see how the public take to this new direction and style for Miss Noonan, who definitely has many varying sides to her musical talents.

"It was a dark and stormy night .....", well the weather certainly was putting on some horrendous conditions for us to brave, but thankfully The Basement was all set to heat up with some live soul music over 3 consecutive nights.

Gary Pinto was the opening act, for those not familiar with the name he was a founding member of 90's R'n'B act CDB and has been a long-running session singer for many of Australia's legendary musical identities. Gary in his own right is a true talent and has one of this country's finest soul voices, having him as an opener was the perfect starter for the night. We were treated to a 6 song "warm-up" set with just Gary on the guitar and his voice and also a guest performer on keys (Paul from Vanessa Amorosi's band on Friday night, and Clayton Doley from The Hands for Saturday & Sunday). He began with "Higher" a song that was released a couple of years back dueting with Jimmy Barnes. It's a song that wears its religious heart on its sleeve, but done with finesse. Gary's other original tracks he played included "Down To Earth", a cute, positive track that examines what it would be like to look down upon the planet and see all the amazing things we posess; "So Beautiful" a sweet little song about love and the beauty of your loved ones. Whilst "Maybe" is an interesting blend of gritty R'n'B music and Radiohead-esque lyrics with a very ethereal feel. However since this was a tribute to soul music, Gary also threw in his own rendition of Donny Hathaway's "We're Still Friends", and with his husky dulcet tones, could quite easily have given Donny a run for his money. He closed with "Everyone's In Love", recounting the story of how this song was born from a friend who struggled with a heroin addiction and how he had this dream of a completely picture-perfect world and is one of Gary's most moving and powerful songs he's written and his entire set was delivered with true conviction and real heart and soul. I'm looking forward to hearing more of Gary's original work which is due for release later in the year.

If there was any doubt that Guy Sebastian isn't a truly talented artist, the shows at The Basement were evident of how versatile and brilliant he is as a performer, and any doubting Thomas' needed to see these shows.  He began his set with his own material, "Out With My Baby", "All I Need Is You" and "Oh Oh", all songs to get the energy pumping straight off the bat. Even those with dinner and show packages were dancing in their seats. His band included a couple of new faces - Clayton Doley (from The Hands) on keys, and Adam "Ace" Ventoura (from Jon Steven's band) on bass, and introducing Matt and Ben on trumpet and saxophone. The addition of a horn/brass section created some new dimension and texture to Guy's own material which we'd never really experienced before. Considering also that these musicians had barely any rehearsal time for these shows, they sounded so amazing and tight, testament to all of their prowess on their instruments. As mentioned earlier though this was a soul night, so Guy also ripped into a number of songs by artists who've influenced him in his musical career. His renditions of Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour", and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" were unbelievable but the highlight for the shows was his gut-wrenching falsetto work in Minnie Ripperton's "Loving You" which had the whole crowd enraptured. It was impressive to see Guy take these classic songs and inject his own feel into it, they were true to their heritage, yet somehow new and refreshed at the same time. He of course rounded out the set with more of his own material, and it was "Cover On My Heart" and "Taller, Stronger, Better" that had me most moved emotionally. Within the intimacy of that small venue, both of those songs just sounded so full and intense, moreso than on previous occasions that I'd heard them. After each encore we were treated to a rocking "Elevator Love" that had the crowd cheering and despite the lateness of these shows, it was clear we all could've quite easily stayed on for so much more.

 

Friday 8th June

   

 

Sunday 10th June

Some of Guy's band join Gary onstage for set-closer "Everyone's In Love" on the final night

 

 

 

For me this gig was like coming full circle. The first time I ever saw Eskimo Joe perform was here at the Enmore, but they were supporting Alex Lloyd, and their debut album had been burning slowly collectively into the Australian Music Industry conscience. This time around they were headlining and they were putting on a production, rather than just your average pub gig, complete with cool lights and projections and choreographed stage plots.

Openers Bridezilla are a truly unique musical experience, it's a shame that their innovation will also be their downfall. I would be pretty damn surprised if these girls and guy ever manage to reach commercial success, they're just far too different to be able to gain a widespread popularity. Their music is an ethereal mix of alternative rock and airy instrumentation with costumes that creates some pretty out-there sort of soundscapes and visuals. Give the girls some time and a bit more stage presence and they could themselves put on a great headlining show of their own that could rival some burlesque productions.
Little Birdy were next. I loathe Katy Steele's voice. I like Little Birdy's music. That's about all I can say really.

The Eskimo Joe tour was titled "Beating Like A Drum" and true to the tour name, they opened with that track and bass drum thumping so hard you could feel it in your chest. Kav was atop a riser higher than the drums and 3 spotlights shone down on his back, it was eerie and emotive and the show continued on in this vein. As I mentioned earlier, this was a production, not just a standard gig and we were treated to an array of lighting and projections to tie in with the music, including snippets of videos to their relevant hit singles. I sometimes find that projection screens can be a bit of a distraction, it wasn't so much in this instance because the images were repeated throughout the entire song so once you'd caught a glimpse of it, it was enough to tide you over til the next song. Their current set is heavily saturated with material from their latest LP which is good but I do miss hearing some of their other songs. My standouts would have been "Setting Sun" and "Breaking Up", both of which I got a little teary during and also a stirring and powerful "This Is Pressure". We all got a little jumpy during "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" and "Smoke" but the highlight of the evening was their cover of Crowded House's "Weather With You" which had the entire room singing and swaying. These guys have it all, great songs, powerful and energetic live performances and the ability to play a variety of instruments which they do throughout their set. They've now moved upward from being a pub band to being a true spectacle, next stop, stadiums and arenas!

 

 

When I arrived at the Enmore Theatre I knew I was set for a big night and it's taken a little while but the boys from Thirsty Merc had finally cracked it and sold out the Enmore. The buzz outside and inside the venue was humming and it was shaping up well.
First support act The Hampdens have never really done anything for me, I've seen them a couple of times (in support roles) and I just can't latch onto it. I spent the majority of their set mingling with friends in the foyer of the venue. The weirdest thing for me was having allocated seats for this show, as almost every Thirsty Merc show I've ever attended I've been down the front jumping around like a crazy person. The other thing that felt odd was the fact that my posse of friends (a lot of whom I met through Thirsty Merc) were scattered all over the place. Some had standing tickets, others had seated but downstairs in the stalls, whilst I was up in the gallery.
When Old Man River took to the stage we made our way upstairs and watched the show from our seats. I'll admit I always feel a little detached when I'm so far away from the stage, my vision is horrendously bad so I can never really make out what's happening. On the other hand though the sound from up there was great. Despite Rosie (new girl on sitar, acoustic guitar et al) having a few technical issues with her acoustic guitar, their sound was fairly good. It looked like they were enjoying playing in such a massive room too.

The kicker for the night was when the Thirsty Merc boys walked out and the whole room erupted in cheers. Hometown crowds always put on a show of strong support and this was no exception. The instantly kicked things off with "She's All I Got" and kept the pace rocking leading straight into "The Vision". I was a little disappointed that they let loose their strongest song off their current LP so early, but maybe they were hoping to set the mood early?  The whole show ROCKED, and this was very surprising. I've known them to have their softer moments, but this was almost like a different band. A more energetic and powerful entity that had definitely amped up their material. My favourites for the night were definitely "The Vision", "The Whole World Reminds Me Of You", "No Sugar" (ohhhh so good to have that song back in circulation) "In The Summertime" (boy did mum and I dance like crazy people in that one!). The huge crowd sing-a-longs for both "Someday Someday" and "20 Good Reasons" gave me chills and I even got a little teary and sentimental. I'm so proud of those guys and how far they've come. Adding to the fact that the boys were performing well was the bonus of having a 3 piece brass/horn section, which brought a whole new texture and dimension to some of those older songs like "My Completeness". It's been a while, but they've finally made it and I can always say that I remember the day I saw them at the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi playing to a room of about 20 people. Ha, those were the days!!!

 

Old Man River

Thirsty Merc

Bring on the brass!

Wow ...

Congrats boys!