Review: Daniel Champagne, Camelot Lounge, Sydney

May 14, 2012 at 10:02 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Daniel Champagne
Image Courtesy of Daniel Champagne

Daniel Champagne
11th May 2012, Camelot Lounge
Sydney

Last Friday as half of Sydney was making their way to Insert-Latest-Sponsor-Here Arena to see a little known artist named Prince I found myself in deepest darkest Marrickville to catch the local launch of Daniel Champagne’s latest EP Real Live. I’d been avoiding Marrickville’s Camelot Lounge out of a ridiculous prejudice – the fact that it is at least two forms of public transport from my house is my usual excuse not to make it down – but the combination of Champagne’s Sydney show and just getting over myself meant I found myself within it’s cozy, memorabilia clad walls.

When the unassuming Daniel Champagne stepped onto the stage I wasn’t sure the show had started. Crouching over his pedals and tapping lightly on the strings of his guitar I assumed Champagne was merely sound checking until his music began to build and he launched into a blistering Willie Dixon cover.

And this was exactly as the set continued – with Daniel Champagne’s unassuming stage presence giving way to his exceptional skill and showmanship on the guitar. His between-song banter was endearingly shy and self depricating, yet still imbued with enough charisma that I found myself on the edge of my seat hanging on his every softly spoken word. Yet this was juxtaposed with the way Champagne presented himself as a guitarist – strong, confident and completely owning the stage.

Working through his back catalogue including favourites from Real Live “The Nightingale”, “Losing Home”, “I Grew Up Where I Could See The Stars” and his cover of Don McLean’s “Vincent”, Daniel Champagne proved himself literate not just in the frantic, intricate guitar pieces that he’s most known for but also the sweet, softer songs that showcase his delicate side. He even commented during the evening that t was good to be playing his own show rather than a set festival spot or support slot (like his recent stints with Jimmy Barnes) allowed him more range and the ability to not just focus on the high energy songs in his repertoire.

Finishing up with the track “Pendulum”, also the final tune on Real Live, Daniel Champagne had the criminally small crowd in the palm of his hand. There’s a reason Champagne has an amazing reputation as a live performer. I’m so glad I bucked the trend and ignored the visiting superstar, as well as getting over my own only-going-to-local-gigs-boundaries and caught him in such a special and intimate venue. Do yourself a favour and go and see Daniel Champagne next time he hits your town.

The remaining list of dates on Daniel Champagne’s current tour are below:

Monday 14th May – The Espy St Kilda, VIC
Tuesday 15th May – Toff in Town Melbourne, VIC
Wednesday 16th May – Mojo’s Fremantle, WA
Friday 18th May – Ya Ya’s Perth, WA
Monday 21st May – The Espy St Kilda, VIC
Tuesday 22nd May – Toff in Town Melbourne, VIC
Thursday 24th May – Blues On Broad Beach Broad Beach, QLD
Friday 25th May – Blues On Broad Beach Broad Beach, QLD
Saturday 26th May – Blues On Broad Beach Broad Beach, QLD
Monday 27th May – The Espy St Kilda, VIC
Tuesday 28th May – Toff in Town St Kilda, VIC
Thursday 31st May – SOL Bar Maroochydore, QLD
Friday 1st June – The Sound Lounge Gold Coast, QLD
Sunday 3rd June – Harvest Café Byron Bay, NSW
Thursday 7th June – Yours and Owls Wollongong, NSW
Friday 8th June – Snowy Mountains Music Festival Perisher, NSW
Saturday 9th June – Snowy Mountains Music Festival Perisher, NSW
Thursday 14th June – The Front Canberra, ACT
Friday 15th June – The Front Canberra, ACT
Saturday 16th June – The Joynt Brisbane, QLD
Sunday 17th June – The Joynt Brisbane, QLD
Wednesday 20th June – Republic Bar Hobart, TAS
Thursday 21st June – Royal Oak Launceston, TAS
Friday 22nd June – Skwiz Café Sheffield, TAS
Saturday 23rd June – Caravan Music Club Melbourne, VIC

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Review: The Maple Trail, The Vanguard, Sydney

May 9, 2012 at 15:31 (Gigs, Reviews)
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The Maple Trail
Image Courtesy of The Maple Trail

The Maple Trail with Hot Spoke and Eirwen Skye
3rd May 2012, The Vanguard
Sydney

The first time I saw Aiden Roberts, AKA The Maple Trail, it was in the tiny upstairs room at The Hive Bar in Erskineville as part of Shut The Folk Up. For that performance Roberts was in solo acoustic mode as was befitting the room. 18 months later and I find myself at The Vanguard to see The Maple Trail, this time in full band mode, launching his amazing new album Cable Mountain Warning and I can’t believe how far he’s come.

But before we get to the main act some words have to be dedicated to the opening acts.

The beginning of the night saw the welcome return to the Sydney stage of folk pixie Eirwen Skye. Fresh from a plane from Germany and complaining of (but not exhibiting) jet lag Skye dug deep into her impressive bag of musical tricks turning the stage into her own personal play ground. The loop pedal has become a staple for the singer-songwriter of late with everyone from Matt Corby to Josh Pyke dabbling in sampling but Eirwen Skye has it down to an art, creating an orchestra of sounds – with vocal, percusive, ukulele and recorder – to create wonderfuly quirky folk songs. We’re so happy to have her back – make sure you get out to see Skye at one of her upcoming dates.

Hot Spoke are not a band I am admittedly familiar with and as a lover of new live music I was anxious to see what they were like. A departure from the one-woman-band that is Eirwen Skye the Sydney four piece entertained the audience with their brand of folk-inspired rock. For those who have never seen Hot Spoke before I think the best comparison I could make is Fleetwood Mac with lead singer Vanessa Jade channeling Stevie Nicks both in dress and in voice. One thing I wish there was more of was between song banter. Despite delivering an energetic performance during the songs the lack any engagement with the audience between songs along with the only time they mentioned their name being a mumbled comment right at the end of the set (I had to look up The Vanguard web site to make sure I’d caught it correctly) meant I felt disconnected and ultimately unsatisfied with the set. Hopefully this can be a lesson to other bands in support slots – make sure the audience at least knows who you are.

The Maple Trail, on this night a revolving cast of musicians with Aiden Roberts front and centre, began their (his?) set with a Jimmy-Page style bowed guitar and steady folk-rock jam. Taking queues from American and celtic folk as well as rock and pop The Maple Trail diligently made their way through the material on Cable Mountain Warning proving that it’s just as wonderful live as it is recorded. I did wish Roberts’ voice was a little more front and centre in the mix on the night because his Nick Drake-like delivery on the album is easily one of favourite things about it – but this is such a minor quibble and I enjoyed the performance immensely.

Cable Mountain Warning features so many amazing artists on guest duties and The Maple Trail were able to wrangle a number of these for the performance last Thursday night – both Caitlin Park and Brian Campeau (who I suspect lives at The Vanguard, I see him perform there so often) stepped up for vocal duties and Robert’s long time collaborator John Kaldor was on hand for most of the set. There was also a guest appearance from Bayden Hine (Packwood) on the final song, matching his five string banjo with the six string version played by The Maple Trail’s resident plucker as well as a viola player whose name escaped me but who added such a richness to the traditional Gaelic piece Roberts performed halfway through the set.

The influences on The Maple Trail’s music are obviously very diverse but his love of celtic music really shone through during the set. Whether it be the aforementioned song in Gaelic, the melodies of songs like “Sailors Voice” or the fact that a bodhran featured heavily towards the end of the night, Roberts wears his love of trad on his sleeve. Not to say the night was an all-Celtic affair – there was just as much (if not more) rock and roll emanating from the stage throughout the set.

Towards the end of show Aiden Roberts announced that we were “not going to see this again for some time” hinting that The Maple Trail would be put to bed while he focused on other projects. I feel blessed to have caught one of the only performances The Maple Trail have given to support Cable Mountain Warning and I encourage anyone who didn’t manage to catch him (them?) live to pick up this amazing CD. I loved The Maple Trail as a solo act when I first saw them but having the full band just took the music to another level – I can’t wait to see where else Roberts goes next on his musical journey.

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Review: The Green Mohair Suits, The Vanguard, Sydney

April 18, 2012 at 14:41 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Green Mohair Suits

The Green Mohair Suits
13th April 2012, The Vanguard
Sydney

My name is Julie Stenton, I am Generation Y, and I like alt-country-bluegrass music.

There. I said it.

I like Aimee Mann, I like Neil Young, I like Ryan Adams, I like The Mountain Goats, I like Earle Scruggs, I like the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and, most recently, I like The Green Mohair Suits.

I like that Sarah Howells (Triple J) incorporates a little bit of this stuff into her Thursday night program, Roots ‘N’ All, but I’d REALLY like it if more of this stuff was played on the radio during the waking hours. Surely, I’m not alone.

Coincidentally, The Green Mohair Suits launched their new album at The Vanguard on Friday night (Triple J, are you smelling what I’m baking here? Wink, wink).

Their live performance was fun, engaging and energetic – even without the piano accordion and Elana Stone’s vocals as featured on the album. Self described as ‘Bluegrass Garage’, their songs are beguiling, quirky, frequently eccentric and sometimes sweary. With several singers on call in the band, they are also beautifully and diversely sung (if you haven’t heard Brian Campeau ‘do’ country, well, you need to take a look at your life, Old Man).

Lyrically, the style is classic country (“I only got one dollar, so I only play one chord”) and insanely catchy (“I’m a liar [He’s a liar], I’m a liar, liar, liar, liar”) and the album holds little gems like a song sung from the perspective of a bug, replete with bug-voice accompaniment. I’m not kidding. It is clear that these guys have been brought up on a very, very varied musical diet.

There was something for everyone at the gig (except green suits of any kind) and their freshly minted, eponymous album only further showcases their musical range. I like it, bugs and all (and if the broadcasters and record labels are looking for quirk or beauty with a difference to appeal to their listeners, these suits will likely impress them Suits).

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Review: Justin Townes Earle, The Factory Theatre, Sydney

April 12, 2012 at 13:19 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Justin Townes Earle
Image Courtesy of The AU Review

Justin Townes Earle
4th April 2012, The Factory Theatre
Sydney

“Ladies and Gentlemen my head feels like a pencil eraser, pencil eraser”

And so it began. Justin Townes Earle had stepped on stage at the Factory Theatre for the Sydney leg of his Bluesfest sideshows in his usual style – simultaneously charming and bamboozling the audience before presenting his exceptional brand of American folk and country music.

I first saw Justin Townes Earle at last year’s Blue Mountains Music Festival where he performed solo with a fiddle player in accompaniment. Since then Earle has released a band heavy album (Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now) so the show he presented this time around was markedly different – instead of a fiddle player he was flanked by a guitarist/mandolinist and a bass player. The result was a much fuller sound but in the end this was Justin Townes Earle and it’s the songs that people came to see.

Through his entire back catalogue Justin Townes Earle has proved himself a master story teller. His show traversed songs from all of his albums, reimagining much of his “solo” work into the context of the three piece band. At times I found the sound a little muddy mainly on the bass end of the scale, which was probably due to the cavernous venue rather than any fault of the sound team, but this did not overshadow just how good a singer and songwriter Earle is. Songs like “One More Night in Brooklyn” were given an extra dimension with the addition of the lead guitar and base while the songs from his new album, such as the title track “Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now” (‘This is a song I wrote to piss off a girl’), sat perfectly alongside his older material.

“Just because the new record has horns, doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to do this”

Midway through the show Justin Townes Earle dismissed his band and played a series of songs with just his voice and guitar. I just love the way this man plays his instrument – somehow weaving the lead and rhythm parts together while also providing percussion through his trademark “whack” of the strings. It was during this solo set that Earle played some of my favourite tracks of his, “They Killed John Henry” and “Mama’s Eyes”, both of which are completely different from each other but both of which were absolutely pitch perfect and had me singing along with every note.

When the band returned to the stage Justin Townes Earle polished off his show with a number of new songs, some older tracks and of course some covers. While the rest of the crowd was probably most impressed with the Townes Van Zandt and Springsteen covers in the encore it was his version of The Replacement’s “Can’t Hardly Wait” that stuck in my head as I left probably due to the driving mandolin riff all the way through.

I feel blessed to have had the chance to see Justin Townes Earle again this year. He’s an amazing songwriter, a quirky and endearing performer and an absolutely fascinating personality. If you’ve never been along to one of his shows I can’t stress enough how hard you should try and catch him next time he’s out. Amazing.

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Review: Charles Bradley, Barrio, Adelaide

March 10, 2012 at 13:35 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Image courtesy of Charles Bradley

Charles Bradley with Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes
9th March, Barrio (Adelaide Festival),
Adelaide

There’s not much that could make South Australian audiences miss the opening Friday night of the annual Womadelaide festival in the Botanic Park, but going by the sell-out crowd at Adelaide’s newest and quirkiest hot-spot Barrio- Charles Bradley is a worthy exception.

Barrio is a late-night, shanty-town maze of restaurants, bars, markets and stages that popped up on the Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza a week or so ago as part of Adelaide Festival. The destination has proved a hit with Adelaide’s mad-March merrymakers, with lines often backed up to North Terrace with eager patrons ready to make an offering to the Barrio ‘shrine’ upon entering (it’s actually a thing). The bizarre space is unlike anything and creates a wild vibe for a performance.

Kicking off the night’s proceedings with otherwordly sass was Melbourne’s Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes. The nine piece diva-soul ensemble made a powerful impression with well crafted and catchy original tunes that pay nostalgic homage to the gospels of yesteryear. Whilst Browne’s enormous voice, charisma and presence stole the show, her band do a sterling job and provided some pretty special moments themselves. Her tune “Love Letter” has been recieving some spins on Triple J, and  the outfit were certainly deserved recipients of the honour of warming the stage for the main event- (as he was introduced enthusiastically on the night) “the one and only, the black swan, the screaming eagle of soul, the original victim of love; Charles Bradley“.

For those who don’t know of Charles Bradley it’s best to get this across early; he is a phenomenon. Releasing his debut album No Time for Dreaming in 2011 at the tender age of 63, Bradley took the world by storm with a voice and a collection of songs that are unparalleled in the current era of music. Sure, Bradley draws influence from the likes of James Brown and Otis Redding and obvious comparisons can be made, but Bradley produces a sound and a performance that’s unique and touching.

Bradley almost exclusively explores 2 themes in his music- 1) that the world is full of trouble, pain, heartache and sorrow, and 2) that love and belief is the remedy to it all- and boy does he believe what he preaches. I’ve listened to Bradely’s debut a lot and songs like “The World is Going Up in Flames”, “Golden Rule” and “Trouble in the Land” were some of my favourite tracks to come out of last year, but seeing them performed live and in the flesh with all of Bradley’s raw emotion unashamedly on display added yet another dimension. Check out some of his handywork below.

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Review: Jen Cloher, The Vanguard, Sydney

March 6, 2012 at 09:27 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Jen Cloher
Image Courtesy of Jen Cloher

Jen Cloher with The Trouble With Templeton and Tigertown
1st March 2012, The Vanguard
Sydney

As I stood there watching Jen Cloher and The Merri Creek Pickers tear up the stage at The Vanguard in Sydney last Thursday all I could think was “How good is live Australian music?”. Here I was on a miserable, rainy Thursday night, a night where by rights most Sydney-siders would have stayed home, and I was being treated to the best this country has to offer in independant folk, roots and country music. How good is that? What a question…

How Good is… Tigertown? To be honest I was delayed getting to The Vanguard so I only caught the tail end of Tigertown’s set but it’s prompted me to ask the same question I always ask about these guys – why are they still relegated to support slots? Despite the talent that was on lineup on Thursday night Tigertown deserve more than third billing. These guys should be selling out headline shows around the country with lashings of radio play. Their music is insanely catchy (tell me “Go Now” doesn’t get stuck in your head) and they’re just so professional. If they’re not exploding in the next six months then there’s something seriously wrong with the music industry.

How Good is… The Trouble With Templeton? I so wanted to see his set at Peats Ridge but clashes in the program meant I never made it. He was one of the many reasons I decided to review this show and I was not disappointed. His voice is just absolutely beautiful, effortlessly moving between his lower and upper registers. There were hints of Husky or The Middle East in a number of The Trouble With Templeton’s tracks, which is definitely meant as a compliment – I was transfixed throughout the set.

How Good is… having Jen Cloher headlining again? After being away from the stage for a while (other than a couple of non-headlining spots) Cloher has returned with a bang showcasing music from her upcoming third album In Blood Memory. And what a return it was – Cloher’s amazing voice was in full force, her showmanship front and centre and her new songs on par or even better than what has come before. And what a band…

How Good is… having a backing band like The Merri Creek Pickers? I’ve only heard these guys online before so when Jen Cloher told me they’d be her backing band I was insanely excited. And boy did they live up to expectations. Deftly swapping instruments, jamming on the mandolin, banjo and lap steel, The Merri Creek Pickers had toned down their usual jam style bluegrass and instead delivered near pitch perfect folk rock that suited Jen Cloher’s music down to the ground. Maybe there’s a future in session music for these guys?

How Good is… new music from Jen Cloher? Not only was Cloher showcasing music from her upcoming album she also had a three track EP titled Baby We Were Born To Die on offer which quite frankly hasn’t left my ears since the show. The first track in particular, “Call If You Need Me” is simply beautiful and deserves to be heard.

How Good is… Jen Cloher’s voice? Really, this woman is amazing.

How Good is… a gig without pretense? From spotting each and every artist mingling with the crowd when they weren’t on stage to Cloher’s refusal to indulge in an encore, instead opting for “three final songs”, there was a humility to the night from everyone involved. The Vanguard as a venue and Aussie musicians as a rule don’t care much for a separation of audience and artist and this is one of the great tenants of our live music scene.

How Good is… live, independent Australian music? Seriously. I can’t applaud the Sydney gig going public enough for a) coming out on a rainy Thursday night b) filling not just Jen Cloher’s show but shows all around the city (including Timber and Steel favourites Fanny Lumsden and Lissa) and c) showing so much respect to Jen Cloher and her supports.

What a fantastic night of music – here’s to more of the same!

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Review: Pear and the Awkward Orchestra, FBi Social, Kings Cross

February 27, 2012 at 11:52 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Pear and the Awkward Orchestra
Image Courtesy of Pear and the Awkward Orchestra

Pear and the Awkward Orchestra
22nd February 2012, FBi Social, Kings Cross
Sydney

I am no stranger to feeling awkward. In fact, you could say that I feel awkward at the drop of a hat. Especially on a breezy street, if dropping said hat, it tumbles along just out of reach while I’m bent-over-running, arms flailing. Awkward!

I do not like feeling awkward, yet at first glance, awkwardness is something that Pear and the Awkward Orchestra have embraced – everything from the band name to the promotional picture included in the press release (above) whiffs of it. I mean, is Pear (Stephanie Barros Lees) laughing at ME? Did she see ME running like a clown after that hat? I feel a little awkward!

I also find band biographies a bit awkward. Mostly because, unless the band is a ‘big deal’, they are written in the third person by the first person. How awkward is that? Heaps.

With all this personal-discomfort-regarding-how-others-perceive-you afoot, I have decided to review Pear and the Awkward Orchestra’s performance at FBi Social against their own set of criteria, namely – how they are described in their band biography.

Awkward enough for you?* Here we go:

Pear says

Jules says

Score
Sweet Absolutely. Pear is quite adorable, actually.

1.0
Juicy Figuratively, no idea what this means but I like it. Literally, no band members appeared to be drinking juice.

0.5
Unique Definitely.

1.0
Quirky Utterly – I particularly liked the Orchestra’s matching outfits – Geek Chic.

1.0
Memorable Certainly. I still have “Oh Katrina” stuck in my head and am about to hit up iTunes for Smocks.

1.0
Whimsical Just like Miss Muffet, minus the tuffet, curds etc.

1.0
Diverse instrumentation Three guitars. To be fair, they were all different (and one from the 1920s), but would we call that diverse?

0.5
Emotive/powerful voice Yup, juicy.

1.0
Gritty songs I would have said ‘playful’. But if we read ‘gritty’ as ‘plucky’ then yes – there was a whole lotta pluckin’ goin’ on.

0.5
Personal songs She didn’t mention me once, so room for improvement there.

0.5
Brisbane-based I saw no physical evidence of this but believe it to be true.

1.0
Beautiful, handmade ecologically sustainable merchandise, which has to be seen to be believed I didn’t see it; therefore I do not believe it – full points! Wait, that’s not really true. Pear seems like a good apple and I do believe that the eco merch exists – half points.

1.0

0.5

Total score – a very un-awkward 9.5/12. In addition to their description, I heard inventive, unconventional, hooky songwriting, and witnessed an engaging, warm performance. Pear and the Awkwards were cool in a science-class-explosion kind of way.

Thanks for a fun night, Pear. I think you’re more eccentric than awkward, but next time my hat blows off at the beach, I’ll be thinking of you.

*If it’s not awkward enough for you, please don’t tell me because that would be kind of embarrassing.

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Review: Matt Corby, The Corner Hotel, Melbourne

February 20, 2012 at 14:18 (Gigs, Reviews)
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Matt Corby
Image Courtesy of Matt Corby

Matt Corby
19th February 2012, The Corner Hotel
Melbourne

This was Matt Corby‘s second chance to impress me.

A year and a half ago, in the upstairs of a pub in Islington, North London, I went along to watch Matt Corby perform a free gig. There were, at most, twenty people in the room (including Corby and a bartender) and I left in awe of Corby‘s vocals but feeling underwhelmed at his songs and lacklustre stage presence.

Fast forward to February 2012 and I’m on the other side of the world at the first of five sold out shows at a venue with a capacity of around 850.

It’d be fair to say 2011 was Corby‘s year. “Brother” was the song that was to be his big break and ultimately earn him the bronze medal equivalent in Triple J’s Hottest 100.

Tonight he casually strolls onto the stage; The theatrical red curtains open with smoke machines and lighting creating the kind of atmosphere one wouldn’t normally associate with an acoustic guitarist. As he begins with “Made of Stone”, I immediately fear this second chance was undeserved. Yet again, his vocals are faultless but there’s something missing.

It’s only when he bursts into his second song with the backing of the whole band that I realise how wrong I was.

By the time he plays his third song – a track he introduces as “a song that you might recognise” – I’m completely charmed. As he ramps up the tempo and the volume for the bridge of “Brother” it becomes clear that the more attitude Corby displays, the more enjoyable his performance is.

The set continues with a few solo performances and Corby‘s clever rendition of The Black Keys‘ “Lonely Boy” which the crowd reacts well to.

Alone with his loop pedal, Corby records his softer notes before layering on harsher vocals to create something pretty special. But I still think I prefer his performance when accompanied by his band – the addition of a drummer particularly enhanced the songs.

Finishing with an encore of “Kings, Queens, Beggars and Thieves” – a song I vaguely remember from my first encounter with Corby – the improvement is immeasurable.

The boy I saw back then appeared awkward, uncertain and lacking. Tonight I saw a confident man, oozing stage presence and clearly adored by the packed out crowd.

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Review: Laura Marling, Sydney Opera House, Sydney

February 13, 2012 at 13:26 (Gigs, Reviews)
Tags: ,

Laura Marling

Laura Marling
9th February 2012, The Sydney Opera House
Sydney

Goosebumpy? Not yet an actual word. Amazing? Too common. Cute? Well, it was (especially when she started reeling off facts about the Queen – did you know that she has her manual driver’s licence?), but Laura Marling’s performance at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday night left me scratching around for good adjectives to describe it. Good isn’t good enough.

I’ll start at the start.

I am reasonably new to Laura Marling’s music, which, as a folk-lover, I am a little embarrassed about. Of course, ‘back then’ I knew of her and was reasonably spellbound by “Rambling Man“, but I truly got involved when I chanced upon this live performance of “Ghosts” from her first release, Alas, I Cannot Swim. What happened next was that I lost a great many hours in the wormhole that is YouTube and, several months later after watching this, became entirely convinced that if I didn’t get tickets to her Opera House show it would be very, very bad.

Fast forward three months and I’m on a Mega Date Night with MG. He’s more of an indie-tragic but seems almost as excited about our Date Night entertainment as I am. He says he finds Laura “silencing”, likening her to a good meal – “No need to talk”. I find the simile amusing yet curiously accurate and steal his adjective, “silencing” – nice one, MG.

Appropriately, aside from the occasional wolf whistle and one gentleman’s pertinent request that Laura be his Valentine (an overture the drummer denied simply; “No”), the audience were a silent lot, allowing us all to disappear into Laura’s world – with Sophia and The Beast accompanying – as she recreated A Creature I Don’t Know, song by beautiful song (and only slightly out of order).

Gee, wasn’t it good? My favourite, “Night After Night”, sort of paralysed me, in the nice way – fingertips to mouth. What is goosebumpy on the recording actually hurts you in the heart region live – her voice, both certain and frail as she sings, “It is knowing, it is knowing”. Even “The Beast” – the only track on the album that I don’t love (because I feel like it’s trying to ‘rock’ and doesn’t quite) – was awesome live, due to the almost-spoken and growled delivery.

At interval, MG and I debate whether the riff in “My Friends” is similar to Jose Gonzalez’ rendition of “Heartbeats” whilst queuing for wine and, 20 minutes later we return to our seats just as Laura had ‘hoped’ (endearing humility).

In Act II there were more ‘just Laura’ songs, which was lovely. I mean, her band is brilliant (and funny – the audience having a good chuckle as they each, in turn, shared a fact), but solo – she burns a hole in the stage. Laura claims not to be religious, but with her ensemble white/blonde hair and blouse and singing to The Man Upstairs, she does a pretty convincing angel impression.

Angelically, she treated us to all the favourites – “Ghosts”, “Rambling Man” and “Goodbye England”. There was even a newbie, the title of which remains a mystery, where she sings, “I should have told you where my kindness ends…I am not your tiny dancer” implying heartache and/or Elton John (but I wonder – who could possibly be unkind to Laura – not another indie-tragic surely, and Elton’s not her type).

Other than a buzzed string here and there, and the odd forgotten lyric (again, endearing), the show was hard to fault. Deploying a stated, longstanding approach to encores, she didn’t do one. I respect that. When all is done we leave the ‘House, and MG says he thinks she was better than Aimee Mann. “A big call,” I say, not one for comparisons, but as a massive Mann-fan, the compliment is far better than any adjective I can come up with.

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Falls Festival Feature Review: Emma Louise

January 17, 2012 at 10:00 (Festivals, Gigs, Reviews)
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Emma Louise by Stu BReview by KTBell, photos by Stu B.

Emma Louise at the Falls Festival, Lorne VIC
The Grand Theatre, Saturday 31 December 2011

We arrived at The Grand Theatre for Emma Louise where a considerable crowd had gathered. Starting out on stage solo, she played a song written the previous week called “British Admiral”. Inspired by a visit to King Island for Christmas, the reef is littered with over 200 shipwrecks and the song reflects upon all the sailors who never came home to their wives. With a sweet, tender opening on acoustic guitar, the lament and mourning was clear. Emma was joined on stage by her band for “Sandalwood” allowing her angelic vocals to fill the tent.

Next was “Our Song”, though I might have the name wrong, based on the experience of being dumped yet still going back for more. Interestingly opening with vocal harmonies and a strong beat, it was a song full of concern yet able to achieve a quiet, calm moment of stillness of held guitar and keys notes among the drumbeat. Having last seen Emma Louise in the support slot for Boy and Bear last year, I was impressed to see her showmanship has improved performance wise, possibly part of that lift is the band behind her, but on stage experience seems to have served her well.

She told the audience that she had lived in Brisbane during the floods, and to escape that scene, had gone home to Cairns only to be stranded by cyclone Yasi. “Warning Eyes” was written while waiting for Yasi to arrive and delivered a quiet, solemn opening, building with the imminent story. “Darts” was about a good friend not long passed away, a slow song where memories unravel and intertwine through melody and emphatic versus. She reveled in the fact that she was playing a few new ones for the crowd and
played another which I think was called “Staying”.

Emma Louise by Stu BNext she pulled one from her EP from when she first moved to Brisbane and was living in a share house with smelly boys. “Bugs” had a delightful full sound, with a strong guitar, piano, drums and a massive wallowing bass riff. Given that the previous year had been a whirlwind of activity with her sudden rise in popularity, among all the changes, she wrote “Flannelette Sheets”, a song about being away from a loved one. The opening harmonies were like a light rain shower building up to a heartfelt yearning crescendo ending. “Sun And Moon” was punctuated and rhythmic with echoey harmonies throughout the chorus. And to bring her set to a close, Emma Louise pulled out a punchy rendition of the hit “Jungle”. She had a dedicated audience and a solid, entertaining performance. Her style still holds on to much of the floaty, delicate intimacy created by her breathy style, but she has stepped in to her own as a festival performer.

2012 will certainly be Emma Louise‘s year.

Read the rest of our Falls Festival reviews, part 1 In The Beginning, part 2 Mid Stride and part 3 where Emma was featured, The Countdown.

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