Wednesday was Kate Miller-Heidke. She was singing mostly from her previous album and showcasing some of her songs from the new album out this week (totally pre-ordered). Her new music seems to have taken on a certain dark element that has not really been explored in her earlier work. There are more songs about the loss of love than love itself; seeming strange from a woman happily married to fellow musician and band mate Keir Nuttall. Many of them seem to be fictitious imaginings however it is claimed this is based on a true story. Who knows. I am very interested to hear upcoming interviews with Kate on how and why she thinks her artistic direction has changed. All in all however, she joked with the audience light-heartedly and played beautiful songs and Keir constantly impressed with amazing guitar.
This is one from the new album.
I would also like to mention the support act and backup vocalist for the evening, Madeline Paige (she's in the above video). Although she assured us that she was no longer pursuing music full time and was instead studying psychology, you could tell how much she love she has for music from the first song. She also did a fierce Feist cover. Respect.
Friday: Old Man River. A brilliant duo (Eliza and James Rogers) called Patient Little Sister opened the night. Their voices melt into one another in beautiful sibling harmonisation and I can personally vouch for Eliza's ability on the violin, as we went to high school together and have seen her play many times through the years. They're recording an EP right now but for the time being here is their soundcloud page.
The second support were three beautiful ladies from Simone and Girlfunkle. They had to battle with an ever-increasingly loud and raucous crowd which was really a shame because their soft melodies were at times lost on people who were not listening from the very front. I would really love to see them soon at one of their own gigs so I can give them a proper listen live.
I did not expect to feel what I did towards Old Man River by the time he had finished his set. Ohad Rein had not brought his band, but borrowed Lee Jones from the local Perth band, Sun Orchestra to play pedal steel guitar. alongside his acoustic set.
and holy shit.
Not only were the new songs from OMR new album fantastic live, I have not seen a man with a stage presence like Ohad's. He was obviously calm and confident in the music he was playing but at the same time perfectly genuine and gracious. After one particular song where he unplugged his amp, went out into the crowd and sang Open Up with no form of amplification there was complete silence in the room. That is unheard of from the Norfolk Basement. it's directly connected to one of the loudest, drunkest pubs in Fremantle for heavens sake. He was standing right next to me and I couldn't help but cry. It was just too beautiful to explain. You NEED to see him for yourself to understand. Once the gig had finished my friend Sarah and I went up and thanked him. how could we not? he gave my friend a drink, drew me something and we hugged goodbye. I not left a gig feeling so elated and at peace. I slept like a baby and woke in a fantastic mood. Tiny crush? Possibly. Possibly not that tiny.
This is him with Megan Washington, now just known as Washington. This is the first song I'd ever heard from him. That was a couple of years ago now. Sigh.
Onto, another Australian musician that does not get as much attention as she deserves, I saw Holly Throsby and her band The Hello Tigers at the Norfolk Basement. I was recognised by the security guard because I'd been there for Old Man River the day before (oops..). All awkward tendencies in Holly's initial stage presence washes away when she sings. I have never seen her live before but have listened to her music since high school so watching her perform is something that I've wanted to do for a long time. She's a beautiful live singer and it was clear to me by the reaction of the audience that she endears herself to all that see her. Honourable mention to Bree Van Reyk who is a master of the drums and completely mesmerizing. You can see from her body and expression that she feels everything that she is playing. I would pay just to sit and watch her drum for an evening. Jens Birchall is the other side of The Hello Tigers and a beautiful cellist and guitarist. I can't wait to see them again.
Not a bad week, don't you agree?
No comments:
Post a Comment