Serving up the first tunes of the night on the tiny stage at The Rosemount Hotel was local songstress Abbe May. She began her solo set of country-blues rockabilly with an acoustic guitar to a very small and uninterested crowd. One could not help but feel that there is some sort of stigma surrounding female country-blues singers that renders them to be somewhat mediocre. Although her voice was big enough to fill the room and her songs were easy enough to listen to, they got a little depressing after a few songs in leaving punters heading for the bar. Adequate as far as support acts go, but nothing too memorable.
Next up were Melbourne band Deloris, a relatively well kept secret that have a reputation to be an ever morphing band. After releasing their second album in 2004 Fake Our Deaths, frontman and guitarist Marcus Teague found himself without a band when it came time to record the third album. With a relatively new-look lineup, Deloris played an intricate and near-flawless set to a packed crowd. Their soft indie-rock numbers (most from current album Ten Lives, released late last year) won the crowd over and received massive applause. Think of all the things you like about this style of music and Deloris meld it together effortlessly.
Teague, who looks uncannily like a young Tim Freedman, showed that a band can be just as impressive, if not more, without the need for a dramatic stage show and proved they didn’t have to rely on tricks to win the crowd over as they opened their set with Everything Ever. Guitarist Anthony Petrucci provided exceptional backing vocals and addition of tambourine and tracks like Unbroke Part of it and Woah Oh left an impression that had the crowd pondering how first-rate this support band was.
A veteran of Australian music, Something for Kate frontman Paul Dempsey stepped out first to perform a solo acoustic version of Impossible under a single spotlight centre stage. Then, joined by his wife and bassist Stephanie Ashworth and drummer Clint Hyndman they play the hits from their greatest (or rather, favourite) hits album The Murmur Years, named after the record label they were with spanning across 11 years.
While ‘best-of’ albums are usually very obvious ways for record companies to make quick fat cash, The Murmur Years showcases a range of B-sides and personal favourites, rather than every single they ever released, which is a welcome change from the norm.
SFK’s brand of music is somewhat of an acquired taste though, as it doesn’t really lend itself to any set genre of music. It’s a bit of rock and a bit of something else, perhaps alternative or indie or experimental. You can’t really dance to it, or relax; you just appreciate the depth of the arrangements and collaboration of sounds. While they are not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s their unique sound that has had them endure the years, apparent when you looked out into the crowd and saw just as many 40-somethings as there were people in their 20s.
With so many bodies crammed into the small venue, in addition to the lack of air conditioning, if you closed your eyes it was easy to imagine you were listening to them in the middle of scorching summer evening. The sweat dripped from Dempsey, Ashworth and Hyndman as they had the whole crowd singing along to old favourite Song for a Sleepwalker and rocking out to Oh Kamikaze.
Halfway through the set Dempsey declared: “Sorry folks, I’m having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction and just spent the last half of that song trying to keep my pants up.” It seemed his belt buckle had broken and efforts to fix it with electrical tape just weren’t working. This had punters whipping their belts off and throwing them on stage in hopes that he would chose theirs. After playing a couple more songs with a broken belt, he finally decided to change it, taking it off in a stripper-like manner (well not really, but many had hoped…) sending the ladies into a screaming frenzy as they cheered and wolf-whistled, all the while Ashworth standing to the side nodding and smiling in agreement.
Obvious tracks missing from the setlist were Electricity and Cigarettes and Suitcases, which left a few fans disheartened but grateful nonetheless. Finishing off with a powerful performance of Captain (Million Miles an Hour), SFK left punters looking forward to the next decade or so that Dempsey says they plan on sticking around for.
