Tomas Ford's Birthday Party @The Glasshouse, Perth(19/11/10)

Thu 25th Nov, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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Tomas Ford’s Birthday Party made for more than just a name on Friday night. Not only did we witness one of the man’s greatest performances and some entertaining openers, but the audience enjoyed a huge amount of party food, balloons and party hats to boot. Even if The Glass House area of The Brass Monkey might seem like an unusual venue on paper, in reality it turned out to be perfect for the evening’s festive celebrations. Ford himself not only performed, but provided his own DJ set between acts and caroused with quite possibly every single person in attendance. This was not a party that would be easily forgotten.

Opening the evening were Salt Licked, featuring Geoff Baker (previously from 6000 Red and Ampoule) and vocalist Bree Van De Zuidwind, who were making their live debut. If one weren’t to know the duo had never previously performed in a live setting, it would have been impossible to tell. Zuidwind in particular presented a stunning vocal performance to match the experimentally classy electro produced by Baker. Salt Licked’s mature style could easily make for a promising addition to the local Perth music culture.

Up next was something completely different (even on a lineup where no artist was remotely alike), UK spoken word artist Belowsky. Spoken word can be a difficult subject to review at the best of times, and Belowsky is no exception to that rule. He was a unique talent to watch and his poetry was intriguing, but at the end of day it only really mattered if the individual audience member was keen on spoken word or not. Some loved him; others chatted amongst themselves and visited the bar instead. Something of a shame, as Belowky was obviously intent on pleasing the audience, but perhaps it was unavoidable.

Hayley Beth was the third support to perform and made for another left turn for the evening. With a strong soulful voice and her own style of acoustic folk, Beth was as much of unique addition of the lineup as each of the other artists were. Her between song banter was also notable, especially her tales of knowing Tomas during their childhoods – including one account where she referred to him as a ‘freckle faced fart machine’). It was her songs that really shone though, and her set was an enjoyable low key final opener before Tomas Ford took over.

Taking over is something of an understatement. From the second Tomas Ford’s set began, the crowd was entirely his. Even those who’ve seen Ford perform previously should be kicking themselves for missing this particular performance. The man was simply in top form and every sexed up, sweat drenched minute was savoured by the audience of devoted fans. Even when there were technical glitches, the show was entertaining, he instructed the crowd to never let him and a friend sort out the technical side of things themselves. As for the songs, Ford played over an hour of favourites ( Loudspeeka, I Feel Dirty ) and new tracks from his upcoming album Tomas Ford vs The Audience.

It can’t be understated how much of a showman Ford is. He was all over the room, one second getting close and personal with a fan, the next being carried across to the bar. Ford’s party was such a high that the inevitable comedown had to follow. After one last touching farewell song (surrounded by audience members sitting on the floor like an attentive class of preschoolers with their favourite teacher), the show was over. Tomas, we had the best time at your party. Thank you very much.

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