Little Red, Sparkadia, Kimbra@ ANU, Canberra (7/9/10)

Sun 10th Oct, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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November 2008 saw Little Red and Sparkadia perform back-to-back sets at the Trackside Festival. There was mud, rain and hail. Still, it was amazing. With this in mind, I had pretty high expectations for the recent Little Red (headline) and Sparkadia (support) gig. ANU Bar was obviously devoid of any of the weather conditions that marked the last time I saw these bands, but the crowd was definitely more impressive. The bar was packed by the time first support act Kimbra took to the stage, and she blew us away with a gorgeous, eclectic set that had plenty of style and soul.

Looking very vintage with a curled black bob and red lipstick, Kimbra showcased her intricate and powerful vocals on tracks such as Settle Down, Cameo Lover and a cover of The Dirty Projector’s Knotty Pine. With a voice that invokes Ella Fitzgerald and a pretty cool four-piece band behind her, Kimbra is destined for big things – so watch this space.

Sparkadia followed, drawing a rather massive crowd, complete with yelling males of the bogan variety and wildly dancing girls. They played new tracks; standouts being China and single Talking Like I’m Falling Down Stairs, but also served up a generous helping of older songs, including Animals, Up In The Air, Morning Light and crowd favourite Jealousy. It’s difficult to be objective when talking about a band if you already love them so much it doesn’t really matter what they do, but with Sparkadia this isn’t a problem. They played like pros- each song sounding better live then a recording ever would. There were no bells, no whistles and no showboating – just good, honest indie-pop, which is sometimes, exactly the way it needs to be. Even with a lineup change that leaves Alex Burnett the only original member of the band and essentially a solo artist, Sparkadia still managed to capture that same magic they did in 2008.

After stellar support acts, Little Red appeared, accompanied by cheering, screaming and song requests from the huge crowd. Little Red’s latest offering Midnight Remember marks a rather noticeable departure from the soda-pop and jukebox vibe of their earlier work. Bringing with them a slightly melancholy, deeper sound, Little Red has evolved. But the enthusiastic crowd was treated to the best of both worlds, so everyone was pretty happy. Notable tracks off the new album included Slow Motion, Follow You There and the rather sketchy message of Forget About Your Man.

Loyal fans were satisfied with a smattering of older tracks, including It’s Alright, Witch Doctor and Jackie Cooper. The show was closed with new single Rock It, but calls for an encore and thunderous applause bought Little Red back to the stage one more time, finishing their set with the crowd dancing erratically to Coca-Cola.

Little Red has the perfect mix of slick professionalism and haphazard jam session in its sound, which is possibly what makes them just so watchable. It’s clear, that even with a slight change in sound, things are only going to get bigger and bigger for these Melbourne lads.

There are such talented musicians in Australia at the moment – from Kimbra’s powerhouse vocals, to Alex Burnett’s determination to keep his band alive, to Little Red’s old school rock n’ roll, and gigs like this one showcase that to a tee. So despite the abundance of red-faced drunks, and having to stand next to a rather badly smelling gent, it was an amazing night – one that I hope you didn’t miss.

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