Abbe May and the Rockin'Pneumonia @ Jive, Adelaide(16/07/09)

Sat 18th Jul, 2009 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.

Abbe May’s gig at Jive on Thursday night is best described as intimate for two reasons. Firstly, because of the size of the audience. The turnout would’ve barely sold out the men’s room, so it was perhaps fortunate for May and the Rockin’ Pneumonia that they didn’t have to share the takings with a support act. Just why Adelaide failed to provide one isn’t clear. Though a well-known local blues duo were earmarked for the slot, the guitarist had other commitments; much to the chagrin of the drummer, who was ready with bells and all manner of percussive attire on to share a stage with the most sensual woman in Australian rock. Instead, the duties fell to May’s brother, the Rockin’ Pneumonia guitarist also known as K.T. Rumble, who played a solo set which could’ve been titled Beavis and/or Butthead auditions for American Idol.

The performance could also be described as intimate for the strident sexuality of May’s performances, which has been inched up for the release of new EP Hawaiian Disease, May’s third release and her first with the Rockin’ Pneumonia. Certainly, her blues influences are clear – covers of classics like Wang Dang Doodle and Spoonful are stand-outs on record and live – and the charisma she channels from strong blues women like Etta James and Koko Taylor is enough to make Anthony Callea’s knees tremble.

But it’s May’s confronting lyrics that demand the most attention. Since Robert Johnson sang “squeeze my lemon ‘til the juice runs down my leg”, the blues has been littered with brilliantly sleazy euphemisms used to disguise the songs’ salacious subject matter. The lyrics to Hawaiian Disease read like an ode to the tradition, even if they are a little less subtle. “My heart, it aches between my legs”, from the EP’s title track, may leave little to the imagination, but that didn’t faze the men present at Jive who stood enthralled like schoolboys who’d stumbled into a burlesque show. As did some of their girlfriends, too.

Though the disappointingly sparse audience lacked atmosphere and made obvious some fans’ bad gig habits – including one of the great rock ‘n’ roll indignities for a muso: playing while someone stands in the middle of an empty floor taking photos with a Blackberry – those in attendance were treated to a full-throttle performance. Even in an empty room, it seems, May has two modes – off and on – and she was definitely switched on. From growling sweet obscenities into her coppertone mic, to raucous flurries of slide on a stomping version of Tom Waits’s Jesus Gonna Be Here, to closing with a charming solo rendition of Dream a Little Dream of Me on the ukulele, May kept her audience enraptured for her whole set.

We can only hope now that she’ll take a chance on coming back.

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.