Skipping Girl Vinegar, HelloSatellites, Young Werther @The Toff In Town, Melbourne(18/09/2010)

Wed 22nd Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Four years ago, I went to a gig at the Evelyn, in Brunswick. There was a band there doing their first gig with a new name, and right from the very first song, I was hooked. They were so damn happy about being there that you couldn’t help but get excited for them.

Fast forward to Sept. 18, 2010. That same band are playing at the warm, friendly Toff in Town, for the release of their new single. The band is Skipping Girl Vinegar, the single is Wasted.

But I’m getting ahead of myself; there were two support acts before SGV took to the stage, and both are definitely worth a mention.The first, Young Werther, was two young blokes with guitars. Nerdy looking, but funny, singer Michael Young was comfortable both on stage and interacting with the audience. The songs were mellow, definitely enjoyable and fitted perfectly with the Toff’s intimate, friendly vibe. A really pleasant warm-up for the evening.

The second support act, Hello Satellites, were a whole different kettle of fish. Intriguing is the first word that springs to mind. Using a combination of homemade instruments (what looked like polypipe and ping pong raquets!) and a lovely voice, singer Eva Popov had charming gypsy-like characteristics. The kind of band that would be perfect to listen to when you’re sitting on a train, just relax to. The music comes second to the powerful vocals; they’re chilled, a bit folksy and a lot likeable even though I can’t work out exactly what it is I liked about them.

Then, Skipping Girl Vinegar. A Japanese lantern hangs near the back of stage. The microphones are covered with leaves, flowers and vines. A projector sends an image to the back wall; a typical Australian country photo.

Easing into the set slowly with opener Fighting With Gravity, the band lit the spark of charisma they have always been known for. Picking up the pace with a mixture of tracks from their first, much talked about album Sift The Noise , and several new songs that included one lead singer Mark Lang admitted was “so new I don’t really know the lyrics yet.” It was a well-balanced mix of upbeat, catchy, foot-stomping songs and mellow tracks that could easily have been lullabies.

One particular stand-out was a newer song that was heavy on the vocals, light on the music, with the recurring line ‘She’s found my soul’. Beautiful, as was Fly Little Bird, the B-side of previous single One Long Week.

New single Wasted (the reason we were all there) was also a highlight; loud, hyperactive and downright good fun to listen to. Sing-along opportunity number one came courtesy of River Road, with Mark encouraging the audience to perform the part of the horn in the track.

The bond in the band is evident, and the grins on their faces and just general excitement at being on stage spread through the crowd, until even the bar staff were clapping and having a bit of a boogie behind the bar. They exclaimed several times how glad they were to be back in Melbourne (complete with the compulsory slagging-off of Tasmania) and chatted to the audience like we were all old friends.

Like their support, Hello Satellites, SGV also pulled out the home-made instruments; an old fashioned telephone and plastic water bottles filled with rocks added interesting percussion to several tracks and provided more light-hearted anecdotes about exactly how to start a band.

Ending their set with two favourites from the first album, title track Sift The Noise and single One Chance, sing-along numbers two and three gave the crowd an opportunity to join in the massive amount of excitement coming from the band. They soon exited the stage, leaving every person looking around at one another and smiling, united by the cheery atmosphere left behind.

The show, however, wasn’t over just yet. Keyboardist and vocalist Amanthi Lynch’s apparent baking craze resulted in the sharing of what was termed a ‘Mars Bar slice’ but resembled a Rice Bubble Slice (really, who am I to be picky, it was delicious whatever it was!). It was passed around by the band themselves, less than ten minutes after the show finished. They made plenty of time to talk to the crowd, mingling and chatting like they were hosts of a party. Perhaps they were. Either way, they’ve come a long way since that rainy night at the Evelyn.

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE