Sydney Festival First Night

Sydney Festival kicked off on Saturday in traditional style, with a huge, city-centre party which was free for everyone. As is traditional with Festival First Night, the afternoon is for the families before the prams make way for the partygoers as the sun descends.

An early treat came in the form of the simply delightful Holly Throsby (below), who performed songs from her children's album, See! (which would certainly make a good companion to Kimya Dawson's cheeky yet life-affirming Alphabutt). Playing with a full band and with a couple of cameos from Darren Hanlon, the singer/songwriter found herself faced by an audience whose average age was about 20 years younger than her usual demographic. However, it was hard to believe that this was the first time she had ever performed such a show, as she managed to comfortably and completely engage the collection of toddlers that stood before her in wonderment.

Not only did she have their undivided attention for the duration, but she even evoked some enthusiastic audience participation. Her songs were educational, catchy and fun, while offering enough in the way of melody to keep the parents happy too. If you missed it, you can catch the show at The Famous Spiegeltent during the festival. If you have children/younger siblings, this would be an awesome first ever gig to take them to.

Bookending Throsby's wonderful show, Casper Babypants did a similar job in keeping the younglings entertained. Who he? Well, Mr Babypants is Chris Ballew, the twice Grammy-nominated songwriter and lead singer for the four-times platinum rock'n'roll band The Presidents of the United States of America. You know, Peaches and all that. He has since written four albums aimed at a new knee-high audience.

While his set was going on, across Hyde Park legendary UK DJ Norman Jay was getting the party started from atop his bus. His set - which ran from early afternoon until 11pm, would take in pretty much every genre imaginable and it didn't take long for a dance-off to ensue. While plenty fancied themselves as being a bit tasty on their feet, it was this dude (below), that stole the show. He stepped into the circle looking like a Mathlete yet emerged a hero, having busted some SERIOUS moves. Don't believe it? Just look at the faces of the people watching.

The day continued with all manner of street theatre while across the many stages was a broad spectrum of musical talent , including Washington, Manu Chao, Electric Empire and Jamaica’s mento masters The Jolly Boys (pictured, top). The festival runs until the end of January, so check out the full schedule of events here. Oh, and here are a couple of handy tips for you. Firstly, download the Sydney Festival app. It's good. Secondly, if you missed out on tickets to anything/are poor, then you should utilise the Tix For Nix booth in Martin Place. A limited number of tickets for EVERY SHOW (sold out or not) go on sale at 8am on the day of the performance for just $25. We lined up overnight to see Lou Reed a few years ago and it was an incredibly rewarding experience.

Here are a few more shots of the Festival First Night:

Words and pictures by Bobby Townsend.

Seeker Lover Keeper at St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney

SEEKER LOVER KEEPER 
HENRY WAGONS 
St Stephen’s Uniting Church, 22/11/11 

Your standard gig experience usually involves standing on beer soaked floors in dingy rooms, stuck behind either the tallest man in the world or the person with phone held aloft, filming the entire set and stopping only to have loud conversations with their friends in the middle of a particularly quiet song. So, what a delightful anomaly it was to sit and watch a show in the least rock 'n' roll venue ever. A church.

The Sydney leg of the Heavenly Sounds tour saw the first of two sell-out crowds enjoying a booze/mobile phone/annoyance-free environment at St Stephen's Church as Melbourne-based Henry Wagons opened the evening. While his banter was pretty funny, and despite the fact that it was a purely acoustic performance, the brashness of his delivery and persona weren’t really in keeping with the sweet, ethereal nature of the occasion.

Despite having spent years performing live, the three members of Seeker Lover Keeper all retain a shy, slightly awkward stage presence which is hugely appealing. Not least Sarah Blasko. As she danced like the shy kid at a school disco, shuffling her weight from side to side, it was pretty hard not to fall in love with her. This is surely the most unassuming supergroup around. But super they are. Songs from their excellent debut album were note-perfect; their nuances enhanced by the church’s fine acoustics and soft lighting.

Alongside Blasko’s beautiful, breathy-yet-powerful voice, Sally Seltman offered dreamy tones while Holly Throsby’s vocal was nicely understated. The band, backed by a drummer and bassist, interchanged constantly, with each member intermittently taking on lead vocals, piano and acoustic guitar duties. All three also performed one of their solo compositions, with Throsby adding it was a joy to play hers because, “Seeker Lover Keeper are the best backing band ever.” True, these three songstresses’ voices all perfectly complimented each other.

Ending the night with their best song, Even Though I’m a Woman, the trio left the stage to a deservedly rousing reception. Without wishing to make the previous few paragraphs seem superfluous, a night in a warmly-lit church watching three talented and charming musicians can be aptly summed-up in a single word. Lovely.

Review by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media.

Caitlin Park - Milk Annual

Heidi Pett lets us know what she thought of Caitlin Park's debut album:

I must confess that while sampling sounds of unusual provenance makes for an interesting press interview/snippet of information to be bandied about, I often find the technique clunky and frankly irritating. Not so with Caitlin Park. In Milk Annual, she's crafted a beautiful album full of delicate, thoughtful songs that, despite very professional production, feels entirely handmade.

At this point I could go for a long winded metaphor involving a patchwork quilt of found sounds carefully stitched together with a thread of folksy guitar and gentle vocals, ironed and laid out through production by Liam Judson of Belles Will Ring. But I won’t, because that may seem trite, unnecessary and pretentious, all of which sits uncomfortably with the pared-back simplicity of tracks such as With No Strength To Defend, Be A Ghost or the hand claps, unashamedly catchy hooks and pop sensibilities to be found on single Baby Teeth.

The way she plays guitar makes you think you can see it. You’re intensely aware of her fingers, the process of it, particularly on opener How’s Your Wife? where audible fret noises ground her sampling and use of electronic sounds in an earthier folk tradition. The range of sounds she employs demonstrates not only a curiosity into the nature of language best seen on the Tic Tac Language Song, but also her ambition and ingenuity in the use of the sounds of a match striking in the similarly experimental Match. Wrist. Bird.

Ordinarily I would baulk at the term ‘experimental’ as too often it’s lazy shorthand for ‘people on drugs with a bunch of whistles, old gameboys and access to garage band’ but it’s clear that, after months of collecting such diverse samples, she has indeed experimented with them before carefully layering them with her gentle vocals and accomplished songwriting to piece together a very considered album. You can read her track by track explanation here, if you’d like to know more about her ideas and methodology.

Comprised of songs which are breathtakingly intricate yet remain accessible and, above all, enjoyable, Milk Annual is best listened to accompanied by the smell of grass with sun on the back of your neck.

Review by Heidi Pett. 

Caitlin Park interview

“One of my favourite things to do is to play to a crowd, find one person who is not listening and try my hardest to get them to notice.”

It's a plan that seems to be working well for Caitlin Park. Her intelligent, looped brand of folk with electronic edges is captivating audiences across Sydney and she was recently a finalist in FBi Radio's Northern Lights competition. It's surprising then, considering her talent and growing reputation, that this isn't a path she has always desired to tread...

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE...

Sydney Laneway 2007

Inside the festival, shaded spots were at a premium, and people frantically waved fans infront of their sweaty brows, as the sun continued to beat the crowd into submission. Still, at least there were no Homebake-style downpours.

Oh, the bands. Of course. Well, pick of the bunch were Melbourne's The Temper Trap, who manage to make musical that is both interesting and fun. Also good were The Archie Bronson Outfit, Peter, Bjorn and John, and Holly Throsby. But, hell, I wasn't reviewing, so, to be honest, rather than concentrating too hard on the music, I really just took the opportunity to hang out all day with dear friends. The only review I shall give is that it is one of the best one-day festivals I have ever been to. There were no mashed-up morons and no-one was drunk and stumbling. It was just an affable gathering of music lovers, and the perfect way to spend a Sunday.

Bravo, Laneway.

Words, Rob Townsend