The Beautiful Girls,Washington, Chasm, VidaSunshyne and Candy @ TheTivoli (05.06.2010)

Tue 8th Jun, 2010 in Gig Reviews

At the first of their two shows at the Tivoli this winter, The Beautiful Girls, supported by Chasm with sisters * Vida Sunshyne and Candy*, and Washington played to an eclectic and rugged up crowd, who had braved the night’s chill to get a taste of summer.

First up, Chasm with sisters Vida Sunshyne and Candy , headed out on stage, with their reggae and soul infused Aussie hip hop. The sisters and Chasm put on a catchy, engaging set, with plenty of interaction with the crowd…perhaps sometimes a little too much interaction, especially for the first support act. With stories and song introductions about smoking weed in Bundaberg and suggestive dancing that left precious little to the imagination, sometimes the set got a little too awkward to watch, but thankfully the music and the crowd managed to make up for the antics.

Next up, was Port Moresby born, Brisbane bred and now Melbourne local, Megan Washington and her band Washington. Despite claiming to feel like the ‘strangest support act’ for the Beautiful Girls, Washington put on a charming and charismatic set, with just the right amount of crowd interaction and stories of punters and their sometimes bizarre antics. With a set list consisting of songs off 2008’s Clementine and 2009’s How to Tame Lions including Clementine and _ How to Tame Lions _, Washington quickly built up the atmosphere in the Tivoli and set the scene for an even greater night. Finishing with Someone Else in Mind and Rich Kids from their latest EP Rich Kids, Washington delivering impressive vocals, haunting yet upbeat melodies and sometimes funny, sometimes bitter sweet lyrics.

When one thinks of The Beautiful Girls, a chilly winter’s night, requiring jackets and scarfs, is definitely not the mental picture that pops into mind but, unfortunately, that was the reality for Friday’s gig. Showcasing their chilled reggae beach rock sound to an enthralled crowd, the boys played a bunch of songs off their latest release, Spooks, including, 10:10, My Mind is an Echo Chamber, and Home/Family. Whilst possibly the greatest band to listen to on a hot summers day, live, the Beautiful Girls can occasionally be a little too repetitive and frankly, a tad boring, with very little interaction with the crowd and softer than soft vocals. That said, however, they’re not a rock band so to expect showy antics is probably naïve and after I had stopped expecting a rock show, the show took on a whole new dimension.

All in all, a night of surprises from all three acts, but definitely a gig worth seeing. Next time, I’ll make sure I’m in the beach rock frame of mind before the gig starts to appreciate the whole show and not just the end.