The Front Gallery & Cafe has a reputation for putting on unmissable evenings of good music, seven piece group local act Dub Dub Goose and support Andrew Walker did not disappoint.
Dub Dub Goose only officially formed this year, but this was not their debut at The Front. At first it seemed only a small crowd had made the trek out to Lyneham, but the atmosphere was relaxed as Andrew Walker wowed with his original tunes and collection of minor chord melodies. In a memorable moment he softly crooned ‘I’ll protect you from all those bastard killer bees’ with an expression of absolute serenity. Walker’s simple lilting voice warmed up the audience for an evening of good music.
By the time Walker finished his set, the crowd had begun to grow and available seats had mysteriously disappeared. Dub Dub Goose was ready to go. The group features frontwoman Beth Monzo on guitar and vocals, Nick Combe with the saxophone, Reuben Lewis and his trumpet, Sophie Chapman on shiny trombone, Matt Lustri on guitar, Matt Sykes on the drums, Chris Pound with the formidably large double bass, and sometimes Grahame Thompson adding miscellaneous sound. They came together through the jazz school at ANU, but jazz is only one of many sounds incorporated in their act. Their songs are combinations of funk, reggae and ska, which created a frenzy of bobbing heads and dancing feet in the eventually packed out crowd. At one point, a girl beside me turned to her partner, telling him she was – œjust going to have a boogie’. This seemed a pretty inevitable response to Dub Dub Goose’s encompassing sound.
They played for a generous and satisfying 90 minutes. When the sweaty crowd wanted more Monzo stayed on for a few more songs, backed by Sykes and Pound. Her tunes had a different feel to those of the band’s – - œFree Love’ was almost a rock/folk hybrid – and Monzo’s powerful vocals and intriguing lyrics kept her audience enthralled (and dancing) for as long as she wanted them in her grasp. By the end of the evening everyone was leaving with a damn good workout and an appreciation of what Canberra’s unique music scene has to offer. Keep an eye out for Dub Dub Goose playing around Canberra, and possibly for a CD when they head into the studio on October.
