It's All Coming Back To Me Now - Goosebumps and Tears

PJ Harvey, live at the Regent Theatre, 2012.

Goosebumps and Tears

2012: The Year of Live Music

by Jo Michelmore

I’m going to admit something here. My name is Jo and I have an addiction, which no, is not the sex addiction Matt likes to think I have in his alternate universe. My addiction is a little more involved than that and it started a long, long time ago. My addiction has plagued and rewarded me almost my whole life. I can’t imagine existing without it and in fact, I don’t want to. I love it.


There’s nothing like the feeling of an incredible note, a guitar riff being played the right way, a bass line pounding through your chest, a drumbeat so catchy it’s impossible not to dance. For me, there’s almost no feeling better than seeing a musician play in front of you, telling stories about their songs, yelling at you, throwing something at you, demanding you dance, demanding you listen, performing with their peers. It’s all about the lights and the clothes and the volume and it’s about swaying uncontrollably, dancing in the dark and singing as loudly as you can. It’s about laughing and bouncing and moving and crying and it’s all about the goose bumps. It’s about sharing these things with thousands of people, hundreds of people, a couple of people, sharing these moments with your closest friends and knowing that years from now you’ll remember those moments with a smile. I’ve been so lucky to have so many of those this year. Amongst a bunch, I saw Crystal Castles, Kira Puru and the Bruise, Texas Tea, Lanie Lane, Gin Wigmore, Aqua….the list goes on. If I mentioned them all we’d be here forever (almost) so instead, let’s just look at a few.

 

One of the most glittery nights of the year, The Vengaboys provided hilarious memories of much drunken behaviour, dancing and something I’d never seen before – their back catalogue is so small they sang one song twice. If it hadn’t been for them, the most hilarious gig of the year might have been given to Marilyn Manson, who spent most of his Soundwave set declaring his love of narcotics and desperately looking for an audience member to share them with. No thanks Marilyn. Lots of laughing and bouncing at those.


Gig Review - Vengaboys (11/01/2012)
Text Review - Soundwave 2012 


The image of Kaiser Chiefs Ricky Wilson throwing his microphone over the lighting rig at the Hi-Fi and demanding everyone listen while singing to a swaying mic was so very rock it made me genuinely happy. Seeing that talented little guy Prince and singing Purple Rain over and over, laughing with Katie while watching a shower of confetti and glitter was the best but it was Holly Throsby who reminded me of the need to pay close attention to those artists who may not make it to the very top of the charts, but whose songs and sounds are just as important. There was some dancing and some swaying at all of those gigs.

Gig Review - Holly Throsby

Holly Throsby (29/03/2012)

Live at the Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane.

by Jo Michelmore

So I’m going to start this review at the end. The encore. Generally I’m a little awkward about the encore. Sometimes it’s fun, a bit of screaming and stamping but sometimes (often) it’s just annoying. We all know you’re coming back out, just get on with it. Holly Throsby at the Black Bear Lodge this week, provided one of my favourite encores of all time, the ‘anti encore’, where she didn’t leave the stage, explaining that the small venue had no band room so they’d have to just go stand in the toilets and wait to come back out if they were to exit stage right. They just stood there, giggled a little, everyone clapped and then they played the encore. So cute, so funny and best end to a gig.

The rest of the night was quite entertaining too. Holly’s band; The Hello Tigers, were, as usual, excellent. Consisting of a percussionist (but also sometimes keyboardist and accordion player) Bree van Reyk and bass player, mandolin extraordinaire and sometimes cellist, Jens Birchal, the two of them complimented and supported Holly’s soft, delicate vocal perfectly. Bree in particular provided such an interesting and beautiful backdrop to Holly’s sweet lyrics and voice. An unusual but awesome duet (“that’s like a song sung by two people”; as described by Holly) mid-way through the set with Jens on “Would You” was a pleasant surprise, his deep voice settling nicely into the song with Holly’s floaty voice sitting beautifully beside him. Perhaps one of the best things about seeing Holly Throsby live though, is her fun and quirky on stage banter and the sense of welcoming she gives her audience. This is one of the greatest things about live music, hearing the artist chat and joke and getting a glimpse into the personality that writes all your favourite songs. Holly Throsby never fails to deliver in this part of her performance. She tells terrible jokes and converses with audience members and gets all a bit weird and Stevie Nicks at times (that’s a giant compliment!) and makes it worthwhile leaving the house rather than just throwing a CD on at home. They played a diverse range of songs from all through her career, with Holly’s friendly and funny chatter filling in between songs all the way through. ‘Up With The Birds’, ‘Making A Fire’ and the crowd pleaser ‘Things Between People’ let us enjoy her beautiful song writing skills and pop quirkiness and left the (at times) strange and diverse crowd pleased. Of course, left until close to the end of the set, the Seeker Lover Keeper favourite, ‘Even Though I’m A Woman’ is such a strong song it even sounded amazing with just Holly’s voice and band able to give it all the attention it deserves.

Since the encore was the start of the review, where does one end it? Perhaps with a statement. There’s so much good music in the world and particularly such incredible songwriters everywhere. Some of them are huge stars filling giant stadiums and appearing on TV and everyone knows their names. Some are cute little girl singers and guitarists from Sydney, Australia, who get to wander freely through the crowd in the bar they are about to play in. The greatest part? Both are just as valid and important and as talented as each other. Live music in every form; tiny and huge, is amazing. You should go see some. Anything. You won’t regret it.