Summer Edmunds from Tassie was sugar and spice and all things nice. Unfortunately, being blonde and sweet wasn’t enough to draw the crowd forward or to stop their chatter. She seemed like a lovely girl and a good singer, but there was nothing new that could be pinpointed. She managed some high pitched Kate Miller Heidke intervals and at times came off very Jewel. Having the likes of Wally De Backer on the line-up raises the bar, so maybe some more oomph or distinctiveness would have worked in Edmunds’ favour. But if you like honest and simple singer songwriting she might just be to your taste.

The Basics arrived on-stage in their loose matching suits ready to deliver to the small but enthusiastic crowd. By starting with Fear of Failure they showed their more serious side that seems to have permeated the new album, Keep Your Friends Close. Novelty seems to have been dropped from The Basics song writing regime as they focus more on lamentations on lost love. It seems either singer/bassist Kris Schroeder or singer/drummer De Backer got dumped somewhere between past album Stand Out, Fit In and now.

Harmonies between the two lead men still made up much of the set, especially Fear of Failure. It certainly came off as a two man show with Schroeder and De Backer trading vocals. Schroeder provided most of the banter with De Backer not really addressing the crowd at all. Schroeder was the funny guy (making jokes about guide dog Ronnie) and De Backer was the one whose talent stood out the most. De Backer seemed very determined this evening; he was thumping along like he had pictures of an unsavoury ex-girlfriend taped to his skins. Vocally amazing, especially when he did the almost shouting projection of high notes like on Looking’ Over My Shoulder and Better.

The other two men did get some look in. Whilst Schroeder seemed to be mocking guitarist Tim Heath a little, Heath proved his chops during the encore with his singing on Have love, will travel, giving a gutsy rendition of Richard Berry’s much covered song. Keyboardist Dave Bramble added some quirk with his fake Croatian accent, playschool introduction to the encore and feeding off Schroeder’s jokes.

Although most of the new songs were love-lorn ballady types, the set was more varied than this. Some of the Stand Out, Fit In do-wop upbeat melodies such as Just Hold On and Hey There! gave some bubbly relief. Lookin’ Over My Shoulder had a dub feel. The Executioner had the darkest vibe of the evening with more sinister and mysterious jamming than ever expected from The Basics. There was some bossa nova and cha cha cha. After an awkward exit before the encore, The Basics proved they were cool enough to pull off the New Kids On The Block’s The Right Stuff and then a very sexy version of J. J. Cale’s Cocaine.

The small crowd were dancing and singing along for most of the set. One crazy lady jumped on stage to tambourine for last song Rattle My Chain (maybe she was De Backer’s “shady stranger” from Lookin’ Over My Shoulder). And why shouldn’t they inspire crazy tambourining. The Basics showed their song writing is evolving away from 50s knock-offs to deeper subjects while retaining a real energy that can morph through all different genres.

See febbyx’s photos here