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The Family - Wed Sep 9
Do you ever wanna feel like you own this town? You don’t need a key to the city, or gang colours. Just a wristband. The Brisbane music conference Big Sound wristband gives you access to wander in and out of half a dozen different Valley venues, and flashing that shit is like the celebrity a small fish must feel when holidaying in a slightly smaller pond. For this report though, we’re going to be sticking to The Family. Set up on the bottom level dance floor, the venue itself a talking point as the rumour circulates that amongst tonight’s crowd is a person who’s set foot in the building before. Elements of the dance club remain as needlessly zestful smoke machines unleash into the unaccustomed indie mob. The melodic but largely downcast tunes of Little Scout float through the haze, and while a show of confidence has always been this troupe’s Everest, frequent touring seems to have strengthened the force behind Mel Tickle’s vocals in particular. This is an intriguing band who continue to improve and charm.
Sporting a giant, almost novelty sized sitar, co-vocalist Rosie Henshaw is the primary draw to Old Man River, despite the group being named after its frontman. Opening with the TV-flogged Sunshine (drawing influences from both Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love and The 5th Dimension’s Let The Sunshine In), the set is musically diverse, but only in the way the year 1969 was musically diverse. On the other hand locals Skinny Jean sound like as many different bands as they have songs, and it’s an impressive showcase set that ends with powerpop pleaser Anhedonia.
What was middling numbers becomes a sandwich of faces for The Middle East, riding the success of their current EP to become the ‘must-see’ slot of the conference. It’s a thrill to watch as a pin is heard dropping during the sublime The Darkest Side. Meanwhile, Blood draws apt comparisons to The Arcade Fire. ‘The Next Big Thing’ is usually a hollow superlative, but it might just be a valid prediction here.
Like a dam wall busting, crowds flow out after The Middle East, but those puddles of folks who stay for The Apples In Stereo’s Robert Schneider are treated to a most eccentric, joyous show. With his hyperactive nasal ramblings externalising whatever he’s thinking, Schneider looks like an out of shape David Cross, but though he’s immediately endeared to the room, his 18-year song catalogue is the finest reason to watch him. Playing acoustically with occasional help from The Smallgoods’ Ben Mason, Schneider picks songs from all pockets of his career, sounding like a mix of The Mountain Goats, The Vaselines and that omnipresent influence, The Beach Boys. A genuine victory of a night for music, for Brisbane showcasing and for The Family as a venue … if only those smoke machines would shut the fuck off.
SIMON TOPPER
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