Northbridge Festival, Perth(19/11/10)

Mon 22nd Nov, 2010 in Gig Reviews

A scorching temperature didn’t deter the sizeable crowd that turned up to one of this year’s best free music events. The Northbridge Festival’s first night had a stellar line-up with Miami Horror headlining the, mostly local, six act bill.

Setting the high standard that punters were going to expect, the Brow Horn Orchestra piled onto the Piazza stage in all their nine-piece glory and launched straight into their nine-song set. You know you’re in for a treat when they’re on the bill. People slowly joined the lone dancing man at the front, and soon a fairly large group of people were jumping and swinging their hips in time to I Can’t Afford This Way of Life – even the security guard was nodding his head at one point. The music itself was so tight that that they couldn’t put a foot wrong. We Were Where the Heart is got more feet moving and heads bobbing and their set came to a close, but not before they played the single Goliath. With their final words, “Thank you and have a pleasant evening”, they were gone – much to the disappointment of the crowd.

By the time Seams appeared on stage, the lights were more noticeable and more people had filled the grassed area. The indie four-piece sauntered on and picked up their instruments as guys, inexplicably in tails and ears, ran on with them and danced entertainingly to the first song. Streamers circulated throughout the audience and every now and then, coloured bits of streamer would fly into the air, giving their set an unusual and relaxed feel.

Lyndon Blue is an interesting front-man with his eclectic stage moves and unusual voice, and keyboardist and vocalist Louisa Burton is an added bonus who gives something else to the dynamic of Seams. Although neither hit the notes all the time, the quirky music somehow makes it forgivable – plus added respect for the use of an electric violin. It took a while to warm up and win over the crowd, and halfway through their set they stopped being mediocre and became much better. Cabin Song was a highlight, as well as Golden Triangle and Early. With the guys in tails and ears running back on stage for their closer Lyre Bird, party poppers, hula hoops, and more streamers made their show energetic and fun. Everyone in sight was smiling and dancing.

With an impressively quick sound check and set up, Carl Fox was up next. The original instrumentation, seamless delivery, and clear musicianship of everyone on stage made this set a winner. Any vocal effects used were perfectly blended with the electro-indie-rock. The music itself was not lyrically driven. In fact, most songs had barely any vocals but the catchy melodies made up for it. As dancers filled the open area, they were thanked for dancing. Title song Chunky Rainbow from the album was a clear crowd favourite. Closing with a brief cover of The Music Sounds Better With You, they left to cheering and colourful streamers being thrown about.

Sampology was entertaining and fairly mind-blowing. The man describes his set as audio visual, and it is not an exaggeration. Cameras on his decks allowed a cut away from the movie clips and animation so the audience could watch his fast fingers blending and reforming unlikely tracks. Throughout his 40-minute set, it was impossible to count the number of songs he used, but each played its own part in his assault on the senses. The Simpsons theme song, as well as famous character catch phrases (Doh!, Ha-ha, etc.), was mixed to create something truly unique and clever. Smiles were on everyone’s faces as Bouncy Bouncy Crimp was remixed into something awesome, complete with The Mighty Boosh footage. Cool Runnings didn’t escape Sampology’s grip and neither did Tom Hanks (vs.Dr Dre). Closing with the classic track, Shout, this artist proved himself to be clever and mildly funny through his choice of songs and clips.

Urthboy didn’t wave his own flag. In fact, he got someone else to do that on the side of the stage, waving a white and black flag with the Urthboy logo on it. Nearly everyone was on their feet as pure Aussie hip-hop music pumped through the PA. Ready to Go got the crowd pumping – and they didn’t stop until he left the stage. His wordplay was impressive as he led into the lyrics of one of his songs by talking about the recent engagement of Prince William. The most noticeable difference between typical American hip hop and Urthboy is the positivity of his lyrics and his message (“Ladies and Gents, are you going to walk away with a smile on your face?”). Dedicating The Signal to hip-hop’s Hunter-SBX, who has cancer, was touching and led straight into the positive message of Your Thing (“Don’t waste your thing!”), which the crowd sang to his instructions. Urthboy got the crowd interested and involved and entertained with his tales of cricket, Guy Sebastian and a miraculous catch. Ending on We Get Around, everyone seemed to be satisfied as he left.

Finally, Miami Horror walked on stage to screams and arm waving. As they opened with Soft Light, the dancing had already begun. The music was tight and polished – exactly what you’d expect of a professional touring band. Crowd favourite Don’t Be On With Her proved the band to be musically great with its 80’s rhythm and electro heart.

Unfortunately, people in the front kept pushing each other around and front-man Ben Plant had to ask the boys in the front several times, semi-politely, to stop because “girls are getting hurt”.

Every band member was clearly having fun on stage with smiles and laughing all around. As a front-man, Plant does well. He’s interesting to watch, hits every note perfectly, and brings the band together. New single Holiday was another crowd favourite, with Plant melodramatically wiping his forehead with a black hanky he kept in his top pocket as he got the crowd to clap in unison. The biggest song of the night, was Sometimes, unsurprisingly. A dance-fuelled but respectful cover of Paul Simon’s You can call me Al was an intriguing and original closer for Melbourne’s electro-indie darlings.

It’s just hard to understand how they all performed in jackets without collapsing of heat stroke.