M. Craft @ The FamousSpiegeltent (25/01/08)

Mon 28th Jan, 2008 in Gig Reviews

On stage at the decidedly un-rock’n’roll time of 5.30pm, M. Craft wowed the sold-out Sydney Festival crowd with his brand of 60s-inspired folk/pop songs.

He worked his way through most of his debut solo album, Silver and Fire, while sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows of the beautiful Spiegeltent.

Craft was captivating from start to finish, and although much of the audience looked more like my mum’s tennis friends than rock ‘n’ roll fans, they lapped up the folk/rock magic.

His songs sounded even more impressive live than on record, which is saying something because they sound pretty damn good on the album.
His voice in particular was unexpectedly clear and expressive: he’s not just a songwriter, he can really sing.

Highlights for me were Dragonfly (in which the keyboardist seductively waved a Chinese fan to recreate the sound of a dragonfly’s wings), Love knows how to fight, and I got nobody waiting for me, which Craft said was about the highs and lows of being single.
He also gave a couple of cover songs the Craft-over, including The Cult’s She sells sanctuary and a surprisingly touching version of The Fine Young Cannibal’s She drives me crazy. Craft remarked: “sometimes lamb also dresses as mutton”, meaning sometimes a beautiful song is hidden under the pop trimmings.

The former Sidewinder frontman was joined on stage by a band that included his brother and fellow Sidewinder member Nick Craft on lead guitar, Matthew Sigley from The Lovetones on bass, a keyboardist, drummer and a sneaky iPod to provide a hint of electronica.
He explained that the band was only formed “on Tuesday” and there were a couple of bung notes, but overall they sounded awesome despite sometimes complex arrangements.

There was also a nice familial chemistry between the two Craft brothers, and M. Craft peppered the gaps between songs with relaxed stage banter.

With the whole show wrapped up by about 6.30pm, we were soon back out in Hyde Park sipping our $7 plastic glasses of wine, and wishing that we’d been to see the previous night’s gig as well. Come back soon M. Craft!