Boy & Bear, Jinja Safari, Emma Louise @ The Corner Hotel, Melbourne (27/05/2011)
Slowly a small crowd started to gather in front of the stage as Emma Louise started with the quite No Response an almost melancholy balled written when her brother went up north to work on the mines.
Morning Eyes was written when she was she was at her parent’s house in Cairns waiting for the cyclone to hit, it has an ominous slow feeling of waiting. It features Danni Ogilvie (drums) playing a ‘Cajon’ (pronounced ‘cahoon’), which produces the most amazing percussive sounds, adding a lovely layer of texture. Sun and Moon was written for a friend in a bad relationship, and has a lovely reflective feeling.
As a whole Emma’s music has a soft brooding quality to it, which can even be heard in the more up beat Jungle which was the closing number for her set. It has been getting a lot of airtime on the radio, and the video clip that has recently been released. Jungle was the most familiar with the crowd and saw a smattering of people quietly singing along. As the final note faded away Emma put down her guitar, thanked the crowd telling us it was her first time on tour, and that the Boy & Bear and Jinja Safari boys were all lovely to tour with and quietly left the stage.
During the quick stage re-set for Jinja Safari (in which the mics, key board, and Nugget’s and Jacob’s drumkits were twined in vine leaves) I got talking to a pair of girls standing in front of me who I found out were almost bigger Jinja Safari fans than they were of Boy & Bear, they told me I was in for a real treat, and they weren’t wrong! The boys hit the stage to a roar, opening with their customary opener Forest Eyes. I’d heard Jinja Safari quite a bit on the radio, but this was the first time I had seen them live, and they did not disappoint. They are the pioneers of 'Forest-Rock' transporting the listener deep into the jungles of Africa with lashings on bongos. A large group of fans dressed as jungle creatures (as they had been asked to do for the previous headline tour) were positioned in front of Nugget taking up a decent third of the crowd.
Fan Leafsaw us getting loose, with Marcus encouraging the crowd to “let go of all your trouble because it’s Friday night” which was answered by cat calling and jungle noises initiated by the Jinja devotees, as Marcus did his “ugly dancing” during the intro. Another tune high on audience participation and chanting was Peter Pan heralded by Pepa picking up his magnificent red sitar, resting one foot on a loudspeaker, ready to play into the crowd. These boys are super fun, and put on a rollicking, high energy live show.
After half a hour break to re-set for the main act the stage lights went up with a roar from the crowd, Dave Hosking (lead vocals and guitar) feigned walking up the steps to the stage before bounding up to the welcoming crowd. Boy and Bear opened with Lordy May a quietly reflective new song off their debut album due to be released later this year. The set was a lovely mix of old and new songs, introducing the fans to what the boys had been working on over in Nashville. Davehad asked us if we minded them playing new material, a nice gesture though I cannot think of any B&B fan who would not want to hear new songs from this talented quintet, and new songs made up the bulk of their set. Next came Mexican Mavis and old familiar to which the whole crowd sang along.
My Only One is another new track with a hauntingly beautiful feel, and features Killian Gavin absolutely shredding it on his guitar in the instrumental breaks, which creates a great contrast to the more reserved verses. Davethen proudly told us that this gig sold out in 40 minutes flat, making it a Corner Hotel record! In contrast to the quietness of My Only One, Milk and Sticks sprang into life with an old time country feel and driving kick drum. It was short and sweet and ran straight into Blood to Gold with a masterful transition on mandolin by Jon Hart. The whole crowd sang along to Blood to Gold with a few people singing along to Tim Hart’s vocal line(vocals/ drums) which seemed to quite impress Dave as he said it was the first time he’d heard anyone in the audience sing the counter melody.
Part Time Believer has a great story like quality to it an reminded me quite a bit of Dan Kelly’s Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam. There was a murmur in the crowd as Jake Tarasenko (bass and drums) took over on the drums from Tim as we knew this meant Fall at Your Feet was coming next. This Crowded House cover originally done for the album He Will Have His Way- the songs of Tim and Neil Finn has become a staple of the Boy & Bear set, and is a song they have completely made their own. You could tell that the boys were absolutely chuffed that the whole house was in full voice singing along to one of very few songs that always gives me chills. Golden Jubilee changed up the mood for a joyful dance with its ridiculously catchy melody, and great guitar riffs from Killian. During Rabbit Song a chap to my right was sat on his friends shoulders a few rows back from the stage. This more rock than folk moment prompted Tim to tell us that someone had written on their Facebook page that they were a ‘death folk band’ which became a bit of a theme for banter for the rest of the night.
Beach pulled by the pace, with thinned out the textures, sobering up the crowd a little, with melancholically and slightly ghostly vocals from Dave, the lyrics seemed to be about performing, exposing oneself on stage, and the trials of touring. Second last in the set was Big Man a sad, reflective and heart tugging yet hopeful song delivered with such quite intensity by Dave.
To wrap up the night was Feeding Line, a current radio favourite. There was sound of recognition from the crowd in the opening few bars, with a decent number of people singing along to their latest single, as the last chords faded away there was a huge cheer and applause from the crowd as the boys waved and left the stage. I left feeling utterly satisfied having had my fill of one of my most favourite bands, and having found two new ones to add to my ‘my follow’ list. I was sad the night was over, but had also been left with an excited hunger for what the yet to be released record from Boy & Bear might bring.
Jillian McEwan
Morning Eyes was written when she was she was at her parent’s house in Cairns waiting for the cyclone to hit, it has an ominous slow feeling of waiting. It features Danni Ogilvie (drums) playing a ‘Cajon’ (pronounced ‘cahoon’), which produces the most amazing percussive sounds, adding a lovely layer of texture. Sun and Moon was written for a friend in a bad relationship, and has a lovely reflective feeling.
As a whole Emma’s music has a soft brooding quality to it, which can even be heard in the more up beat Jungle which was the closing number for her set. It has been getting a lot of airtime on the radio, and the video clip that has recently been released. Jungle was the most familiar with the crowd and saw a smattering of people quietly singing along. As the final note faded away Emma put down her guitar, thanked the crowd telling us it was her first time on tour, and that the Boy & Bear and Jinja Safari boys were all lovely to tour with and quietly left the stage.
During the quick stage re-set for Jinja Safari (in which the mics, key board, and Nugget’s and Jacob’s drumkits were twined in vine leaves) I got talking to a pair of girls standing in front of me who I found out were almost bigger Jinja Safari fans than they were of Boy & Bear, they told me I was in for a real treat, and they weren’t wrong! The boys hit the stage to a roar, opening with their customary opener Forest Eyes. I’d heard Jinja Safari quite a bit on the radio, but this was the first time I had seen them live, and they did not disappoint. They are the pioneers of 'Forest-Rock' transporting the listener deep into the jungles of Africa with lashings on bongos. A large group of fans dressed as jungle creatures (as they had been asked to do for the previous headline tour) were positioned in front of Nugget taking up a decent third of the crowd.
Fan Leafsaw us getting loose, with Marcus encouraging the crowd to “let go of all your trouble because it’s Friday night” which was answered by cat calling and jungle noises initiated by the Jinja devotees, as Marcus did his “ugly dancing” during the intro. Another tune high on audience participation and chanting was Peter Pan heralded by Pepa picking up his magnificent red sitar, resting one foot on a loudspeaker, ready to play into the crowd. These boys are super fun, and put on a rollicking, high energy live show.
After half a hour break to re-set for the main act the stage lights went up with a roar from the crowd, Dave Hosking (lead vocals and guitar) feigned walking up the steps to the stage before bounding up to the welcoming crowd. Boy and Bear opened with Lordy May a quietly reflective new song off their debut album due to be released later this year. The set was a lovely mix of old and new songs, introducing the fans to what the boys had been working on over in Nashville. Davehad asked us if we minded them playing new material, a nice gesture though I cannot think of any B&B fan who would not want to hear new songs from this talented quintet, and new songs made up the bulk of their set. Next came Mexican Mavis and old familiar to which the whole crowd sang along.
My Only One is another new track with a hauntingly beautiful feel, and features Killian Gavin absolutely shredding it on his guitar in the instrumental breaks, which creates a great contrast to the more reserved verses. Davethen proudly told us that this gig sold out in 40 minutes flat, making it a Corner Hotel record! In contrast to the quietness of My Only One, Milk and Sticks sprang into life with an old time country feel and driving kick drum. It was short and sweet and ran straight into Blood to Gold with a masterful transition on mandolin by Jon Hart. The whole crowd sang along to Blood to Gold with a few people singing along to Tim Hart’s vocal line(vocals/ drums) which seemed to quite impress Dave as he said it was the first time he’d heard anyone in the audience sing the counter melody.
Part Time Believer has a great story like quality to it an reminded me quite a bit of Dan Kelly’s Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam. There was a murmur in the crowd as Jake Tarasenko (bass and drums) took over on the drums from Tim as we knew this meant Fall at Your Feet was coming next. This Crowded House cover originally done for the album He Will Have His Way- the songs of Tim and Neil Finn has become a staple of the Boy & Bear set, and is a song they have completely made their own. You could tell that the boys were absolutely chuffed that the whole house was in full voice singing along to one of very few songs that always gives me chills. Golden Jubilee changed up the mood for a joyful dance with its ridiculously catchy melody, and great guitar riffs from Killian. During Rabbit Song a chap to my right was sat on his friends shoulders a few rows back from the stage. This more rock than folk moment prompted Tim to tell us that someone had written on their Facebook page that they were a ‘death folk band’ which became a bit of a theme for banter for the rest of the night.
Beach pulled by the pace, with thinned out the textures, sobering up the crowd a little, with melancholically and slightly ghostly vocals from Dave, the lyrics seemed to be about performing, exposing oneself on stage, and the trials of touring. Second last in the set was Big Man a sad, reflective and heart tugging yet hopeful song delivered with such quite intensity by Dave.
To wrap up the night was Feeding Line, a current radio favourite. There was sound of recognition from the crowd in the opening few bars, with a decent number of people singing along to their latest single, as the last chords faded away there was a huge cheer and applause from the crowd as the boys waved and left the stage. I left feeling utterly satisfied having had my fill of one of my most favourite bands, and having found two new ones to add to my ‘my follow’ list. I was sad the night was over, but had also been left with an excited hunger for what the yet to be released record from Boy & Bear might bring.
Jillian McEwan