The Naked And Famous, Alpine @Northcote Social Club,Melbourne (03/11/2010)

Mon 8th Nov, 2010 in Gig Reviews

On Wednesday night those who weren’t nursing Cup day hangovers may very well have been crammed into the Northcote Social Club, eagerly awaiting The Naked And Famous. They are New Zealand’s ‘next big thing’ who seem to have catapulted straight from our radios and onto our stages. They’ve come to our shores launching their debut album Passive Me Aggressive You and sold out two shows at the Social Club in response to the hype from their single, _ Young Blood_. The launch was the band’s first Melbourne show and accompanying them are locals Alpine, who are no strangers to the Northcote Social Club having held a residency throughout August this year.

As Alpine take to the stage, the tiny room is little more than a quarter full but they don’t let that discourage them. The stage is embellished with flowers, wrapping themselves around mic stands and anything else possible. One of the vocalists ditches her shoes early on, clearly feeling at home on the stage. Their set begins slowly with little movement but quickly builds momentum and volume, making it impossible for even those who are glued to their phones to ignore.

The two singers, Lou James and Phoebe Baker, draw the crowd’s attention with their easy on the ear harmonies and their eccentric and energetic dancing, yet they seem to feel the music rather than rise above it. Their voices are often drowned out by the elements of the sound, while unsuccessfully competing with the chatter of the restless crowd. Above all else, they maintain a comfortable stage presence and are content to jump around on stage together, whether the crowd is interested or not, and for that they earn their place up there.

The curtain rises after a short break and as The Naked And Famous casually walk out on stage, there is a slight rush of excitement in the air. The band is centred around composer/vocalist Thom Powers and vocalist Alisa Xayalith, who are accompanied on stage by Aaron Short, Jesse Wood and David Beadle.

They open with All Of This and immediately the crowd are hyped up and bouncing around, something which they manage to maintain throughout most of their set. A Wolf In Geek’s Clothing pairs heavy distortion with Xayalith’s piercing vocals to awaken everyone in the room.

Unfortunately it is at this point that a group of loud and obnoxious fans force their way to the front and irritate those around them by constantly fist pumping the air, cheering excessively and talking loudly as Thom and Alisa try to begin their next song. While it is clear they are not particularly interested in actually watching The Naked And Famous, they make the mistake of assuming those around them are not either, which, by the looks on the faces of those nearest, is far from the truth.

Thom and Alisa manage to shrug off the rowdy behaviour, rarely interacting with the crowd and at the moments they do, it seems so faint that the conversation is almost inaudible. Powers appears extremely focussed throughout their set, which could be easily mistaken for seeming too cool. The other band members echo his focus and set about making their music expressionlessly. Lucky for them, the music speaks for itself and makes up for the lack of conversation.

Each element comes together on stage to create the mesh of genres that renders their music almost indefinable; it is an array of noises that all seem to click together. The album title Passive Me Aggressive You is embodied in Thom and Alisa’s voices. Thom plays the role of passive, while Alisa’s voice aggressively pierces through the crowd, at times overpowering Thom’s. During the slower introductions like No Way though, even her voice struggles to be heard over the restless crowd but as the song gathers pace, the explosion of noise stifles any conversation and gives Alisa the crowd’s full attention. The song concludes to loud cheers and pleas for them to stay in Melbourne, leaving Alisa looking a little overwhelmed.

To close the show ,no other song is more fitting than single Young Blood, which forces the whole room into a dancing frenzy whether they wanted to move or not. The crowd echoes the yeah yeah yeah yeah’s and the whole room is entranced in the moment. This would be the high note to go out on that most bands aim for.

The Naked And Famous left the crowd wanting more and calls ensued as always for an encore. Being the shy band from New Zealand though, an encore was not something they had prepared for and they certainly hadn’t saved their best material for last.

After a short period of cheering and clapping the band returned to the stage, an ecstatic Alisa exclaiming they hadn’t expected to do an encore having never been to Melbourne before. It seems Thom and Alisa had no idea just how popular their alternative/indie/electronic tunes were. They managed to pull out what I presume was an older unknown song, which the crowd accepted happily enough, buzzing with excitement after the curtain closed. It is easy to see why these guys sold out two shows at the Northcote Social Club with one of the freshest sounds around and a live set that doesn’t disappoint.

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE