Princess One Point Five @Rosemount 14.03.09

Mon 16th Mar, 2009 in Gig Reviews

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Support act Schvendes performed tracks off their Sweet Talk Your Enemies album; their pulsating beats, repetitive lyrics and attention grabbing pauses keeping the heads nodding as they waited for the main act of the night. Unfortunately, only a small gathering of people turned up, yet they seemed neither distracted nor perturbed by this as Schvendes would play the same whether there were a hundred or ten people watching.The band seemed to have forgotten half its crew, but they clearly have a dedicated following here who would be glad to see them home after their tour.

Princess One Point Five clearly consider each one of their fans a friend, and performed a fantastic set impressing the slightly larger crowd gathered for them. The pieced-together band attracted an audience from all walks of life with sounds that were neither too heavy or light; rather the perfect mixture of soft, innocent lines backed by powerful instrumentals.

They began their performance with a new song and continued to provide a fusion of new and old tracks, including those off the most recent album Vous Je Vous. Perth was the first to hear their latest sounds, which have yet to be recorded and they could not have bestowed this blessing on a more appreciative crowd. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, there were no keyboard-included tracks, however the new material more than made up for this factor.

Sarah-Jane Wentzki and her partner Richard Andrew seem to now be more of a collaboration of artists as opposed to the solo act it once was. After the show, Wentzki described their music as – œmodern romance’ an apt phrase to describe the soft delivery of thoughtful lyrics mixed with a raw rock tone and heavy instrumentals evoking deep underlying emotions in their listeners.

The music seems to walk on a tightrope, between genres but it never deviates into hardcore rock or pop rock; it remains in a melancholic, alternative and slightly off centre place. The length of the performance worked absolutely as they finished before a point of boredom and left the audience wanting to hear more.

Wentzki’s inserts of conversation in between songs was a great addition to the show, clearly an unconscious act of a free spirit but it helped the audience know the band personally, and feel a connection to who they are. The Melbourne- grown band have a large fan base at home yet this could easily be mirrored in Perth, who has yet to hear extensively the sounds of Princess One Point Five. It certainly seems that Perth wants to hear more and although this is a quick visit from the group who landed this week and fly out on Monday, we can only hope that Wentzki’s love of Perth and Perth’s great appreciation and love of music will bring them back in the future.

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