Klaxons at The Enmore Theatre, Sydney

KLAXONS
CANYONS
PARADES
The Enmore Theatre, 02/09/10

Sydney’s Parades looked like a bunch of high-school misfits who had been rounded up from the loneliest corners of the playground and ushered onto the stage against their will, but, behind their Breakfast Club aesthetic was an awesome, layered soundscape so huge that it’s hard to believe any venue smaller than The Enmore could cope with such epic noise. As is their wont, the quartet bolstered their numbers for their live show and with five boys and one girl offering four vocals and all manner of percussion and effects, their set was diverse and their songs experimental and enormous. This is a band with a really exciting future.

It’s a shame then, that they weren’t higher on the bill at the expense of DJ duo Canyons, who looked pretty bored on stage as they sipped their beers and went through the motions of their disappointingly soporific set.

When Klaxons (above) first came to Sydney in 2006 they barely knew one end of their instruments from the other but, despite the shambolic nature of their live show, the energy they gave off was unbelievable. Two albums and plenty of touring later they appeared at The Enmore as much more polished musicians, but their raw energy remained as intense as ever. Opening with Flashover and moving through As Above, So Below, The Same Space and Gravity’s Rainbow, their guitar-led dance tunes were hard, fast and really, really LOUD as they continued to alternate between oldies and newies. Pick of the bunch were the catchy Venusia, the ever brilliant pop of Golden Skans and latest single, Echoes.

The hour-long set flew by, and, as they wrapped things up with It’s Not Over Yet, Surfing The Void and Atlantis To Interzone, the band seemed genuinely taken aback by the fervent reception they received. “I’m not joking,” said keyboardist/vocalist, James Righton with a look of bewilderment. “You’re the fucking best audience ever.” True, the crowd were going absolutely mental from start to finish, but that’s largely to do with the fact that the Brits practically ripped the roof off from the get go. With a sound that takes accessible pop and bludgeons it repeatedly over the head with abrasive guitar-based dance, Klaxons have created something quite unique and visceral.

Franz Ferdinand at The Enmore Theatre

Franz Ferdinand played at the Enmore Theatre last week. Here is my review (pictures by the delicious Daniel Boud and Cybele Malinowski):
FRANZ FERDINAND
THE TEMPER TRAP
RED RIDERS
The Enmore Theatre, Enmore
06/01/09

Local lads, Red Riders, were first on the bill when Franz Ferdinand played Sydney back in 2004. Playing the same slot more than four years on perhaps says something about their career trajectory and, while their performance was solid enough, it felt hackneyed and lacked vitality.

In complete contrast, The Temper Trap’s star is ascending at pace. The Melbourne five-piece (whose numbers have been temporarily boosted by a supplementary guitarist due to frontman Dougy’s hand injury) put on a thrilling display that had so much going on it was hard to take it all in. Their songs were anthemic and ambitious, as Dougy’s (below), nuanced, soulful voice soared over keys, guitar, bass, percussion, handclaps and three backing-vocals. Their instrumental set closer wasn’t only the highlight of the set, but the standout moment of the whole evening, as three drummers led a mesmerising tribal jam freakout which filled the room with imposing noise. On this display, 2009 may very well be The Temper Trap’s year."What a brilliant idea to wear a leather jacket to a gig in Sydney in January,” sweaty Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos joked about his attire, before launching into poptastic singles Do You Want To? and The Dark Of The Matinee. This high-tempo start to the sold-out, all-ages gig was maintained throughout. Come On Home and The Fallen followed, with guitarist Nick McCarthy leading the songs with infectious riffs galore, all the while bopping around with a jolty guitar action, like a robotic Marty McFly.

Take Me Out was discarded early, which suggests the Brits are (understandably) bored of playing it. Though the years have tired it a little, it is still fun slice of pop. With its squishy synths, Ulysses displayed the dancier nature of their upcoming album, and even made their older, angular guitar tracks sound slightly flimsy in comparison. Meanwhile, potential future single No You Girls bridged the gap in sound between their older and newer material.

Michael and This Fire ended the jaunty set with a bang. However, while the well-known songs were enjoyable in a singalong kind of way and had the crowd jumping, it was the new tunes that really stood out and showed, three albums in, that Franz Ferdinand aren’t afraid to branch out in interesting new directions.

Angus and Julia Stone at The Enmore Theatre

Sydney’s Angus and Julia Stone played two sold-out homecoming shows at the Enmore Theatre this week. I was at the second of them:














It doesn’t seem long ago that I was watching Angus and Julia Stone playing a free gig at The Rocks or a show at The Vanguard to a couple of hundred people. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago, about 17 months in fact. So it was quite remarkable to hear a cacophony of fervent screams from over 2,000 people as they stepped onto the stage at the Enmore Theatre. Such a reception illustrated just how quickly their star has ascended in their home country, especially considering that they have spent a large chunk of the last couple of years in the UK.

It really shouldn’t be a surprise how popular the siblings have become though (we’d already had a hint at the love Sydney felt for them at last year’s Great Escape Festival). After all, what’s not to like about them? They are both genuinely lovely, humble people who write honest, emotive, catchy-as-hell tunes and deliver them beautifully.















This Enmore show proved that their arrival on the big stage is no accident either, as their new songs proved to be increasingly confident in their arrangements while remaining charming. Julia’s vocal driven For You was a highlight, as was a new Angus ditty, Suzy (or maybe Susie, or Suzie) which pointed in the direction of reggae just slightly. As usual, many of their acoustic numbers were backed by bass and drums, while they also utilised harmonica, trumpet, keys, clarinet and the harp-playing skills of Victor Valdes to embellish their sound.

While their new tracks were well-received, as were older songs Private Lawns (which saw Julia almost rapping at one point) and Mango Tree, it was offerings from their album A Book Like This which went down best. Just a Boy closed the set triumphantly while encore The Beast ended the night to rapturous applause. Quieter moments saw a veil of silence fall over the theatre and, at one stage, as half of the crowd keenly tried to clap along, the other half shushed them.

Above all, this mermerising night suggested that, rather than this being the pinnacle of their musical adventure, Angus and Julia Stone are set to go on to even bigger and better things.

....Here is a clip of Just a Boy. Please excuse the slightly poor sound quality, it was recorded on my digital camera, but you get the idea of the crowd’s adulation, especially at the end:

KT Tunstall at the Enmore Theatre

Following my interview with KT Tunstall, I went to Sydney's Enmore to check out a live show:KT TUNSTALL
NEWTON FAULKNER
The Enmore Theatre, Enmore
19/03/08
For a support act, Englishman Newton Faulkner had a surprisingly firm grip on the audience’s attention. Fresh from a UK headline tour [where he was supported by Sydney’s own Angus and Julia Stone], the dreadlocked solo artist entertained a large crowd with his witty between-song banter and some accomplished acoustic guitar work. Though his own songs offered nothing especially groundbreaking or memorable, his cover of Massive Attack’s Teardrop was exquisite, while a cheeky version of 2 Unlimited’s No Limit and an impression of Kings Of Leon were fun. His set ended with a one-man acoustic version of Bohemian Rhapsody, which was equally impressive and ridiculous.

“How totally fantastic to be here,” KT Tunstall beamed before rattling through tracks from her two studio albums in a performance that brimmed with energy, as her foot-stomping, hip-swaying guitar action was supported by a six-piece band which included two female backing vocalists. Opening track Little Favours was indicative of the upbeat indie-pop that would follow and the pace was also occasionally slowed nicely by the likes of White Bird and Paper Aeroplane, which were gentle, acoustic and pretty. While the band’s sound was great, the highlight of the evening came when the Scot stood alone onstage and crafted her breakthrough single, Black Horse And The Cherry Tree, using a loop pedal. Starting by drumming a beat on her guitar, she then layered guitar parts, percussion and vocals to staggering effect, before being joined again by her band for country-pop tune, Hopeless.

Just like Newton Faulkner before her, Tunstall chatted jovially between songs. She taught the audience to body-pop and, inspired by a visit to the Botanical Gardens, dispensed facts about bats [“when bats take off, they always go left,” apparently], before ending the set with Saving My Face and singalong favourite, Suddenly I See.

She may have already achieved massive success in the UK and America, yet she was still visibly taken aback by the warm reaction her first Sydney audience offered as she returned for an encore. “We’re gonna come back,” she promised before, fittingly on a night punctuated by bizarre cover versions, belting out a rocky version of Walk Like An Egyptian.

Perhaps there is nothing especially unusual about witnessing an evening of quality music, yet tonight was undoubtedly made all the more enjoyable by the sheer unpretentiousness of its performers. Refreshingly good fun.

Cat Power at The Enmore Theatre

CAT POWER
MICK TURNER
The Enmore Theatre, Enmore
09/03/08

The task of entertaining a crowd eager for the arrival of the highly-anticipated main act fell to the brooding instrumentalism of Dirty Three’s Mick Turner, who used loop pedals and occasionally played his guitar with a bow, all the while ably backed up on drums by band-mate Jim White to create an intense, uninterrupted sound, embellished with projected visuals of Turner’s art.

And so, an absolute age after Turner’s absorbing performance had finished, Georgia’s Chan Marshall, Cat Power to you and me, appeared from the shadows and offered the audience an elaborate bow and a pearly white smile. Much to the joy and surprise of all in the room, it was instantly clear that she was far from the morose character that legend suggested she might be. While one may have expected her to skulk motionlessly in the shadows from start to finish, she instead puckishly prowled the width of the stage, full of animation and gesticulation, looking hot as hell in skinny jeans and a scruffy shirt, while her band - comprised of the aforementioned Jim White, keyboardist Greg Foreman from Delta 72, Blues Explosion guitarist Judah Bauer and bassist Erik Paparazzi – lurked in the dusty red light behind her.
The occasion was wonderfully intimate and of course her distinctive vocal, which was equally husky, rich, strained and breathy, was mesmerising, although, other than a delightfully upbeat version of The Tracks of My Tears, the set lacked variety and suffered the occasional lull when a few of the many cover versions missed the mark. However, while her Patsy Cline and Van Morrison covers were limp and directionless, most of her own compositions were magnificent, especially The Greatest, Lived in Bars, Song To Bobby and Where is My Love? which were all extraordinarily beautiful in their pain and fragility.

While her set was lengthy - possibly too lengthy - Marshall simply did not want to go home and, long after the houselights went up as the clock neared midnight, she was still onstage, minus her band, doing a passable Aussie accent, throwing flowers and set-lists into the crowd (below) and humbly saying “thank you” over and over. Eventually she waved a final farewell having demonstrated that, while her cover versions often don’t do her talent justice, Cat Power’s true strength lies in the exquisiteness of her own songs. Oh, and she also proved what a good laugh she is. Who’d have thought?