redsunband, Youth Group @ EastBrunswick Club, Melbourne(25/10/08)

Mon 27th Oct, 2008 in Gig Reviews

With a coin toss deciding the headliner each night on the double headline tour, tonight the call has gone to redsunband and so Youth Group are the first up in front of the small collection of punters. In fact the East Brunswick Club is virtual ghost town on this warm Saturday night despite the pressence of two very fine bands down from Sydney to grace the bill.

Despite the poor turn out the band is in fine form, ringing out anthems suited to stadiums rather than sparkly populated clubs. Beneath his unkempt pompadour Toby Martin delivered his lyrics with a passion, un-tempered by the poor turnout. Dedicating Baby Body to their touring partners draws redsunband out to sit cross legged on in front of the stage, adding to the rehearsal feel of the show. This was followed by their latest single All This Will Pass, before the band got aggressive/frustrated with Daisychains attacking the extra drum with enough ferocity at the climax to collapse its legs.

One of the roadies had wrapped the name of the day’s winning Caulfield Cup winner, Maldivian, around the mic stand, prompting Martin to misread it as ‘maudlin’ – a criticism that’s occasionally thrown at the band. Though to dismiss the band’s material as dour ignores their soaring beauty and the glimmers of the Church and Triffids that influence Youth Group’s songwriting.

Jordie Lane joined the band onstage to add tambourine and vocals to Skeleton Jar, before the set closed out with another new album track In My Dreams Perhaps having your biggest hit associated with a teen soapie hasn’t proven to be the most enduring of career moves… whatever the reason their Forever Young cover is noticeably absent from the setlist.

redsunband’s set suffered from a lack of variety as each slice of indie-pop shoegaze blurred together. Lead singer Sarah Kelly still seems, and looks, like a shy and unsure teenager, joking between songs that she simply doesn’t know what to say on stage. A glance back at the crowd revealed that the crowd had thinned even further by the time they closed with the highlights of their most recent record – the title track The Shiralee and the gloriously sinister The Eagle.

After a smattering of applause, both bands took to the stage for the encore, bringing the night to a close with three all in jams – including a great take on Youth Group’s Shadowlands. Both bands deserve more love from the punters, but sadly it looks as though Youth Group may be on their way to becoming unfairly neglected or perhaps even a cautionary story.