Kicking off at about 9:15pm, Sianna Lee was the first act to take to the stage at the East Brunswick Club. While it was early in the evening, a small crowd had gathered to watch Lee in a rare solo show. Lee is the front woman of beloved Melbourne band Love Outside Andromeda, which is currently on hiatus. The band formed in 2000 and gained notoriety after releasing their fiery self titled debut album. Much of the band’s music is very dark, angry and fierce, a mood largely created by Lee’s screeching vocals and savage lyrics. It’s obvious she’s in a much more peaceful, stable state of mind now as her solo tunes are more gentle and in many ways easier to listen to.
The crowd was quite taken by Lee. Most people sat scattered around the room silently watching the songstress belt out all new, unreleased tracks. It’s a real test when a musician can impress you even though you know none of her music, but it’s one Lee passed with flying colours. Her powerful voice commands your attention and it’s easy to get swept away in her slightly uncomfortable stage manner. The banter between songs was just that bit awkward and Lee appeared to be somewhat unprepared for the show, not knowing when to tune her guitar or even which song she was going to be playing it in, but it was all very endearing.
The sweetest thing was that she had made jam and chutney and even a couple of pairs of gloves to sell as a substitute for merchandise. It is definitely an inventive and novel way to fund her solo album and it was very popular with the punters. Most items sold out very quickly, so to all the budding musicians out there, you might want to put the shirts and albums to the side for the moment and put some effort into dishing up some homemade goods at your next gig!
A young band that might benefit from Lee’s funding plan is Melbourne’s own the Greasers. The three piece was the next act to take centre stage. I must admit my heart sank a little while the band were tuning up before their set. All that could be heard was a lot of noise and not much melody, but thankfully that wasn’t an accurate representation of the set to follow.
Lead by Little Red vocalist Dominic Byrne, the Greasers’ pumped out a fine collection of good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. Their speciality is loud rock with a dark tinge and a lot of grunt. It’s very difficult to resist tapping your feet too. If you are going to be catching theredsunband on this tour, It’s worth getting to the gig early and checking out these two fine support acts. They’re destined for bigger and better things. Not unlike the headlining act.
theredsunband made a name for themselves back in 2004 when they released their debut album Peapod. Their muffled sound found a place in many people’s hearts and it was exciting to see such a young band making outstanding music. Four years later, they’re back on the scene with their long awaited softmore release The Shiralee. The album stays true to theredsunband form. It’s again quite dark, dreamy music, sometimes heavy and sometimes pop like, with the vocal’s never overbearing their distinct sound. You really have to concentrate hard to separate it from the instrumental.
The audience had been energised by the Greasers’ performance and were ready to continue with that rock vibe, but unfortunately theredsunband weren’t able to sustain that level of interest and engagement. I love the band and their music, but I think their live show is missing a vital element. There’s not enough effort being put into crowd involvement.
Whilst the group’s sound is dreamy and pleasant to listen to, at times it’s difficult to be engaged in a live format. There are only a handful of tracks that the crowd really took too. These included the singles Sleep Forever and Devil Song. Both tracks are more sprightly than the majority of the new material and people tended to move from their previously stagnant positions throughout these tunes.
