When the combination of crowd and bands is just right, there is a case to be made for HQ as Adelaide’s strongest music venue. Weapon checks on entry notwithstanding, a fine sound can be wrought from the speakers, while the floor and lounge/bar set-up caters for a wide range of viewing habits, at a size neither too small nor too large. Of course this all falls down if the music itself is not up to scratch, and there were times during Faker’s well attended – if not entirely packed – Sunday night show that it wasn’t.
The evening got off to an uneven start via the rap/rock/dance fusion of Sydney MC Snob Scrilla, whose relatively brief (five songs) sets have opened each date of the tour. Somewhat dated in his delivery and fronting a group that delivered sounds more sludgy than sunny, Scrilla cannot have added too many to his nascent following. He wrapped up by saying he would be back at the end of the month for Parklife, and it is not too unkind to suggest that an outdoor dance festival is probably where he should have stayed.
Things picked up noticeably with Sparkadia, artful purveyors of the kind of anthemic, slightly wistful pop that dominates the British indie scene from time to time. The quartet fronted by Alex Burnett, and given a touch of commercial-friendly glamour by striking guitarist and ex-soap actress Tiffany Preece, had little trouble commanding the HQ stage, cramped though it was by Faker’s half assembled stage kit. Leaning on material from their well-received and decidedly polished first album Postcards, Burnett and co enjoyed their 45 minutes under lights, delivering fine renditions of tracks including Too Much To Do, Morning Light and Jealousy, all of which have found a home on Australian radio. Burnett found time to muse over Adelaide being the town of his birth, and responded to the yobbish and half inaudible “…sucks cock” outbursts of one sozzled punter by saying “sorry, I didn’t understand you, I don’t speak drunk”. They were to leave the stage to sustained acclamation, and the way the hype machine is moving it is difficult to see their October show at the Governor Hindmarsh attracting much less than a full house.
Faker are ahead of Sparkadia in terms of years on the road, albums released and level of commercial radio and in-store support, but in other ways they remain something less than the finished article. Lead singer Nathan Hudson’s sexual confusion act works at times on stage, but at others can get annoying. Behind him, Lucio Pedrazzi, Stefan Gregory and Nicholas Munnings provide a muscular and sporadically danceable backing, albeit one where the written material varies in quality.
Other critics covering the tour have noted that Faker’s sets do sag because of a heavily back-ended setlist, leaving their handful of hits, including This Heart Attack, Hurricane and Are You Magnetic, until the closing moments of their shows. It is a problem that confronts many a band wrestling with commercial success, the singles and airplay mentality perhaps leading the players to neglect the less-known elements of their repertoire. Of course, by saving the stronger work for later, Hudson ensured the crowd became more energised as the gig drew to a close, allowing him to exclaim “fuck, you guys are good” with breathless enthusiasm at the end of the night.
reb_wigg
said on the 17th Sep, 2008