Jack On Fire Rosemount, Perth(15/08/09)

Sun 16th Aug, 2009 in Gig Reviews

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Saturday night was fascinating in that it was evolution in progress. From a two-piece, vocals and guitar set to a two-piece featuring guitars and drums following which, the night moved into a three piece with a cello, vocals and keyboards to a band combining all these elements while the crowd gyrated through the night on the sticky Rosemount floorboards.

Felicity Groom graced the stage with cohort and man-about-town Andrew Ryan on guitar. With a cute clip in her hair, she elegantly swayed her way through her haunting folk songs. Songs like Criminal worked well with the sparse accompaniment. Groom ended on a theatrical note with a playful number where she and Ryan exchanged vocals and gestures to the amusement of the crowd.

The Painkillers sounded aptly like their name – shambling, shuffling and with largely incomprehensible vocals sounding somewhere between a dog barking and muffled shouting about a girl. The last time this reviewer had the honour of watching The Painkillers at In The Pines, she required some painkillers herself from their horridly out-of-tune performance, but thankfully this time they were in tune. The two-piece had all the charm of Velvet Underground, with Perthonality James Baker (most famously associated with the Hoodoo Gurus) keeping a tight, insistent beat through the songs. Their music inspired a couple to twirl their around the dance floor along with Lipstick, which had a strangely-green lightshow accompaniment.

A pared-down Schvendes followed The Painkillers, and without guitar and drums and Rachael Dease only on vocals, their music takes on a greater intensity. Mixing some originals with covers, they overcame some technical difficulties in the middle of their set (a sheepish-looking Dease awkwardly telling the crowd to “Talk amongst yourselves” as she failed to think of anything useful to say to cover the gaps) to deliver a typically beautiful, intriguing set of morbid, dark songs, although it was too intense and weird for some listeners.

Jack On Fire were treated like heroes as they launched into their set, with the packed-out crowd lapping up every countrified riff, blues-inspired guitar solo and bass-led groove from the now-six piece. Money and the Myrrh, Honeymoon and Mountain from their new album Stranger Than Cain were well-received and new addition Kelly Lane (on violin and viola) received a rousing welcome from the Perth crowd. With a rocking rhythm underpinning their dense and richly-textured sound, the band sounded fantastic from beginning to end.

There are some nights where there is consistently fantastic music on display and tonight was one of them. It was a brilliant night of original music and hopefully Jack On Fire will return to Perth again soon.

Were you there? Find yourself in matthewtompsett’s Gallery