Gig Review - Kira Puru and The Bruise (27/09/12)

Kira Puru and The Bruise (27/09/12)

Live at The Joynt, South Brisbane

Supported by MKO

by Jo Michelmore

When it comes to music, I’m not one of those people that does things by halves. When I fall in love with a band, I fall hard. When I decide to fall, I like to fall completely. With this in mind, when I saw Kira Puru and The Bruise at Big Sound in early September, I knew this was a band I wasn’t going to get over easily. So when the opportunity to see them again happened only last week, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.

Thursday in Brisbane can be a strange night. You never know whether to expect a big night or not. Entering the venue to the sweet sounds of MKO (more about this super cute act another time) I was surprised to find an almost empty room but thankfully it managed to fill quite nicely as the night went on (Brisbane, it’s ok to see local bands, sometimes they’re quite good). The Joynt is a curious little venue, with fluorescent lights shining from behind the bar and a jukebox flashing away in another corner making it sometimes difficult to focus on the stage. I should have known Kira and her Bruise would have no trouble grabbing my heart, ripping it out of my body and gently placing back inside an hour or so later.

Caressing a glass of red wine, Kira greeted the odd mix of crowd (think the 80’s and the 90’s got together and decided to hit the town) with a “cheers!” and held them in the palm of her hand for eleven songs, where we were taken on a journey of heartbreak, anger, sorrow and of love. ‘When All Your Love Is Not Enough’ was amazing, as always, ‘Sleep With One Eye Open’, dedicated to “all the people who’ve slept with your boyfriend” was incredible; we were treated to a special play of ‘Water’, “this is not in the set list, are you guys ok with that?” (why of course Kira, of course); ‘Hit The Road’ was awesome (preceded by a special story of the fact it was drummer Dave’s birthday. When asked what he wanted he responded “booze and babes”, at which point Kira demanded of the audience “you motherfuckers better come through” – this is one of those moments I know the reason I love live music) and ‘Step Into The Light’ (their next single) could possibly be my favourite track, so catchy, so, so great.

Kira herself has a presence on stage that is irresistible. She manages to be terrifying one minute and gently supportive the next. It’s a dramatic relationship. Just when you feel safe in her sounds there’s a voice that appears seemingly from another world and the shivers are sent up and down your spine. Her band match her soothingly chaotic vocal perfectly, it can be difficult to know where to look, who to focus on or what to listen for. Geordie Malone’s guitar skills are mesmerising, his frenzied dancing is only matched with the incredible sounds he forces out of his guitar, David Pearce is a drummer any band should want to have, his talent for making his drums speak of heartbreak and pain is mouth-watering and bass player Jamieson Shaw is almost indescribable. His hysterical dancing matches Geordies perfectly and his playing is out of this world. I’ve seen it three times now and every time I’ve been totally floored, when he gets that drumstick and smashes his bass with it I just can’t stop staring and smiling, the world stops and music is all encompassing for a few minutes.

So it’s true. I’ll happily admit it. Kira Puru and The Bruise are my newest love. I’ve fallen in love, completely and wholeheartedly. It could be an obsession. I even saw them again, two nights later at The Hi-Fi for the Drunken Moon Festival, where I was taken to another world of amazement and anger and happiness and bluesy-rootsy-rocky-jazzy-booze filled goodness. Music is good, but amazing music should take you away to places and make you feel like you’ve changed. Like a good love, it should fill your heart and break your heart and Kira Puru and The Bruise have done that to me three times now. Just like a good love, I can’t wait for them to do it all again.