Plus One Records Showcase @The Troubadour, Brisbane(07/09/2010)

Sun 12th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Kicking off the precursor to this week’s festivities, the Plus One Showcase started off on an exceptional high with young ones The Honey Month taking to the stage and blowing away the crowd almost immediately.

Combining the accordion, ukulele and a ridiculously energetic double bassist, Brisbane boys The Honey Month are, in one word, amazing.

Sounding a little bit like a mash up between Runrig and Mumford and Sons, the charmingly enthusiastic bunch of boys managed to quickly woo the crowd, particularly with their percussive melodies.

Rarely have a support band managed to impress a crowd as quickly and with such impact as these boys managed tonight, even the not so indie friend I dragged along was impressed by these talented boys. The musical and vocal talents of The Honey Month will no doubt make them a band watch in the future, if not in the next few months.

After setting such a high standard with the first act, We All Want To, had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, whilst not quite hitting the same intensity of The Honey Month, We All Want To did have the crowd tapping along with their first catchy bass line. Combining melodic and harmonic crescendos reminiscent of Snow Patrol and perhaps a tinge of Jamison Parker, We All Want To performed a eclectic and entertaining set complete with a few folk gems when the band brought out their mouth organs and even a flute. The highlight of the set however was the percussion and bass break down displaying some impressive synchronicity and tamborine skills.

One of the main magnets for tonight’s showcase, The Gin Club hit the stage next, with high expectations held by the crowd.

Unfortunately, these expectations were short lived. Whilst being gifted musically and displaying an impressive ability to play catchy rock tunes with a country western twinge, the set was a little middle of the road and a bit tedious at times. Although The Gin Club makes great music to listen to on the radio, tonight’s set was, all in all, a disappointingly average set, particularly after the impressive openers. As summed up by one punter The Gin Club was just ‘a bit dry tonight’.