End of Fashion, TheSeabellies, The HarlequinLeague @ ANU Bar, Canberra,(17/09/08)

Thu 18th Sep, 2008 in Gig Reviews

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O Yeah! End of Fashion rocked the ANU Bar along with The Seabellies and fellow Perth act The Harlequin League, putting on a fine show for the small crowd of devoted fans catching a glimpse of the new album Book of Lies.

“Loud noise!” exclaimed one audience member as The Harlequin League commenced with a “let’s go” for their first gig in Canberra. The band is young and energetic with a sound that tastes and smells like British India but with psychedelic keys, less shouting and a whole lot more experimental noise. The Perth four piece weren’t too fazed by the lack of audience, churning out their set as though playing to a capacity crowd. Some responded to a suggestion from the band to move closer but many chose to continue to play pool and WARZAID among other arcade games at the venue. The boys plagued by a thin crowd and technical sound issues, battled on, waging a war to win over the audience and they did. The shy Canberra crowd finally made their way to listen to band’s impressive brand of indie rock mingled with discordant keys and noisy guitars. But it was all too late for the shy Canberrans who always make it to the stage just that little too late.

Next up were The Seabellies from Newcastle who are responsible for the catchy indie tune Heart Heart Heart Out that you have no doubt heard on the airwaves of the better radio stations. The band is made up of six lively and musically talented individuals who ignore the gross inefficiencies of transporting about a dozen instruments to create a shamelessly indie electro pop sound. Ok Seabellies, we know you can play just about every goddamn instrument but please, your talent is irritating. However, they can get away with their blatant showing off because they sound fabulous and do a fine job. The Canberra crowd however still had their shy shoes on, making a semi circle in front of the stage with little movement in contrast to The Seabellies’ Steph who was delightfully prancing about. She was the main culprit for the number of instruments handled during the course of the evening including the xylophone, the sax, the accordion and the list goes on and on.

The much anticipated End of Fashion didn’t make the crowd wait long before they graced the stage. The Canberra crowd lost all inhibition and gave it their best to welcome the boys back to the capital. Founding members Justin Burford (lead vocals/guitar) and Rodney Aravena (guitar/vocals) also former members of The Sleepy Jackson have retained the quirky and prominent back up vocals they once provided for Luke Steele in the new tracks. While the gathering at the ANU Bar started out small and pretty much stayed that way, this was to the advantage of those that turned up. No one had to fight their way to see the band and the whole affair was relaxed, intimate and entertaining. The problem with pre-release album tours is that the band is relying on fans to recall the back catalogue and until the new stuff gets hammered on the radio, its unlikely a whole lot of people are going to turn up. But even so this was a great show because the people there were able to interact more with the band and they knew more than one song, proving this by singing along to all the old stuff, including O Yeah and The Game. They also responded well to the new tracks including Kamikaze off the band’s second full length album Book Of Lies due out later this month.