The Beautiful Girls,Washington, Vida Sunshyne &Chasm @ The Palace, Melbourne(25/06/2010)

Mon 28th Jun, 2010 in Gig Reviews

A cold wet night in Melbourne didn’t deter the many punters who went along to see a great night of Australian music at The Palace. The Beautiful Girls are currently touring their latest album Spooks, which, according to front man Mat McHugh, is the record he has always wanted to make. The reggae dub inklings in early Beautiful Girl’s records have certainly come to the forefront of their current sound and it was thoroughly enjoyed by a large crowd in Melbourne.

Kicking off the evening was soul hip-hop duo Vida Sunshyne & Chasm . This choice of support seemed a little strange but did emphasize the diverse range of styles prominent in The Beautiful Girls own music and also got the crowd dancing in preparation for the rest of the evening. Certainly the standout from the set was the voice of Vida Sunshyne, which you can’t help but think would be better suited with a live band instead of heavy electronic beats.

Next on the line up was the immensely talented Washington, who has been supporting The Beautiful Girls throughout their national tour. The growing crowd certainly made a warm welcome for the band as they ripped into a set of indie pop tunes. Ever since Megan Washington’s appearance on ABC show Spicks & Specks, she has certainly become well known around the Melbourne live music scene. Obviously the standout is her amazing voice, which doesn’t fall into that cutesy tone that many local female singers seem to favour. The confidence she has in her voice certainly translates into her songs, which were particularly well received by a number of girls dancing on the second tier.

While there was no one apocalyptically drunk to request Clementine, it certainly went down a treat as did her more familiar songs. Her latest single, Rich Kids has certainly been aided by the support of Triple J, which was highlighted by much of the crowd singing along. The set was perfectly finished off by the popular Cement from the 2009 EP How To Tame Lions , with the majority of crowd dancing along and those too shy to dance bopping their heads along.

To top off a fantastic display of Australian music was the band everyone came to see, and The Palace was certainly packed to brim and full of love for The Beautiful Girls . While it was an awkward start to the set, with the band waiting for the introduction music to finish, the opening reggae guitar riff set the tone for a fantastic blend of new and old songs. The latest album Spooks has certainly got a deep reggae dub vibe and suited The Palace extremely well. Right from the beginning the huge crowd were lapping up every moment and certainly enjoying the tracks from the latest album. The heavy bass grooves and extremely tight dub drumming gave the perfect platform for Mat McHugh to show off his underrated guitar skills and exceptional voice. New single 10:10 was a stand out of the set, after the show there is no question there will be many individuals purchasing the latest album.

An early crowd pleaser was Music from 2003 album Periscopes as well as Le Mar . What was particularly enjoyable was the way the band transitioned from new to old songs, providing the crowd with a constant beat to dance along too. Front man McHugh stated it was the biggest crowd they had ever played to in Melbourne and was extremely appreciative for the large turn out, which was certainly reciprocated by the crowd. The contemporary barometer of whether a band is putting on a good show seems to be how many phones and cameras you can see pointing towards the stage. By this indication, The Beautiful Girls certainly put on a fantastic display of Australian dub and rock. There is no question they have grown since the appearance at the 2004 Falls Festival, into a genuine headlining band.

The only disappointing part of the set was when the band came out for an encore to perform Freedom and had to stop mid song because of sound issues. At a venue like The Palace, this sort of thing really shouldn’t happen, but the love from the crowd gave the band the energy to persist and finished the night off with a classic rendition of Periscopes from their first album, Morning Sun .

What was most evident about seeing The Beautiful Girls play in front of a big crowd at the Palace was that they have certainly secured their place as one of Australia great live bands.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE