Little Birdy @ Capitol(30/05/09)

Mon 1st Jun, 2009 in Gig Reviews

An all Australian line-up was out to support Little Birdy at their Perth show, if only the support acts were supported by the set times.

With the familiar doors open time of 8pm, folk songstress Felicity Groom was given the task of warming up the crowd in advance of most of the crowd arriving. Patrons arriving 40 minutes post opening of the doors had missed the entire set of a female vocalist with a round rich sound, whose exposure had been curtailed to make enough time for Capitol’s club night.

Melbourne quartet Oh Mercy took the second support slot, flittering between seductive 60s coyness and indie pop. The vocals of Alexander Gow have a dreamy quality that had the audience in a groovy trance from the opening bars. With a slight country twang in places, members of the audience who closed their eyes mid trance could have envisioned a third singing Steele sibling on stage. The bad habit of cutting off the end of their songs with ‘thank you’ before the applause might have been a reaction to the mellow daze of the audience.

Gow carried out introductions mid-set taking a backward swipe at their previous tour destinations; “it’s nice to be here, much nicer than Bunbury… Margaret River is beautiful, Bunbury is not so beautiful!”

Seemed Like A Good Idea sparked responsiveness in many of the audience due to its radio play by the youth broadcaster while Lay Everything On Me was a highlight of the set with its flirtatiously cheeky lyrics and sultry groove, Felicity Groom arrived onstage in a monogrammed singlet to perform backup vocals.

Their debut EP In The Nude For Love released just a weekend prior to this show is generating mounting support for the band to thrust their way deeper into the Australian music scene, Oh Mercy indeed!

In the break between sets, an impromptu sing along by the audience to Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Jackson 5’s I Want You Back raised the high spirits in the room and continued to build anticipation for the main act.

Photographers, both amateur, in-house and professional clambered for the best shooting positions, irritating and frustrating the dedicated fans up front while FasterLouder’s Stuo had staked out his position early to provide some unrivaled images.

Little Birdy’s strong supporter base roared as Katy Steele, Simon Leach, Scott O’Donoghue and Matt Chequer strode onto stage waving briefly to the crowd before launching into their set. In preparation for the night it was evident many had acquired Confetti as they sung along with gusto from the outset to close.

Opening with the first track from the newly released third album, Brother, the reflective song about Steele’s relationship with her musical brother and father demonstrated a maturity in writing, backed by an unobtrusive score. Come On Come On lifted the rock tempo and had enthusiastic fans bellowing from the balcony.

Dressed in a fitted coat with tails, short black shorts and opaque stockings Steele was a panther stalking across the stage shaking her wild black hair with ferocity. Tonight’s the Night and After Dark oozed with sexuality, while Steele could have benefited from a cordless mic to enhance her desire to move around the stage.

Resuming the showcase of the latest release Hairdo was punctuated by tongue in cheek sanguinity and followed by thank yous from Steele to all who had brought the newest album which she was proud to announce was in the top ten for its third successive week. Stay Well continued the dream reception with Steele showing her embarrassment at having female fans call out “I love you Katy”! It was all the front woman’s show up until this point and with a precise rendition of break-through track Relapse the audience was transfixed. Better Off Alone momentarily took the focus off Steele as bassist O’Donoghue wrapped his lips around a Melodica and Leach tinkled on keys.

Steele took a seat at the third set of keys on the stage for Into My Arms that delivered a sentiment unlike the Little Birdy of old. This track had slow dance/prom love song written all over it and many grabbed their partner for a swaying two step shuffle. Taking on a soul sound, the material off Confetti bobs somewhere between Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin without Steele’s voice or the band losing their unique alt-country resonance.

Beautiful To Me had Steele performing solo onstage similar to the original demo of the track and fans were all too eager to sing right back “You’re beautiful to me”. Single Summarize stimulated timed claps, as the pocket rocket performer and band moved effortlessly into Run Run Run and were joined onstage by an eager friend – œCrazy Thomas’ who amped up the energy for the cover of Tim Finn’s Six Months On A Leaky Boat. Finally Bodies was delivered with Steele draping her mic cord around her neck to use as a dance aid and energetically pointing at the audience.

An encore was demanded and without hesitation Little Birdy were back on playing Don’t and then Baby Blue with Leach shredding up his guitar under a pulsating strobe and Chequer smashing drums the show could have really ended there, such the satisfaction of the audience.

Lastly the title track Confetti was delivered with a blast of with silver confetti being shot at the audience and a big grin spread across Steele’s face.