Lior @ The Fly By Night, Perth(25/03/11)

Sun 27th Mar, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Lior, to know him is to love him. The sweet-singing Arabian indie folkster played to a full house on Friday at the Fly By Night in Fremantle. Long held as the bohemian epicentre of Perth, Fremantle is the loamy soil in which many of the more exceptional Perth bands spring. Therefore it was fitting that Lior should choose the Fly By Night to play the first of his two Perth tour dates.

The heritage listed former military hangar turned musician’s club still maintains the architectural aesthetic that denotes its martial heritage. However chaotic decorations that bedecked the reformed hangar implied a very different purpose. Giant figures of stars and moons hung from the hangar ceiling and the few tables and curtains that were pushed to the side were garbed in hues of sensual red. Voodoo paraphernalia and African tribal masks behind the bar augmented this occultist theme. Unfortunately the heat inside was stifling. The hundreds of bodies packed closely together in the poorly ventilated venue had magnified the already muggy March night. However to quote the old adage ‘the show must go on.’

Opener Dave Lawrence walked on stage armed with only an acoustic guitar and an impressive set of lungs. Despite his relative anonymity with the audience he quickly won over many punters, and with no small wonder. Lawrence has been a contributing member of the Perth music scene for nearly as long as the Fly By Night itself. Starting with a song about his time in Kings Cross, the bluesy front man of Mister and the Sunbird soon converted sceptical audience members in to fledgling fans.
Lawrence was able to competently adapt many of his Mister and the Sunbird songs to a solo acoustic set, augmenting this with some of his own songs and a cover of Jesus Gonna Be Here by Tom Waits.

After a commendable set by Lawrence a small interval was had to reset the stage, followed by a notable surge towards the bar as punters jostled in front of each other to take advantage of the eight-dollar spirits.

As the lights dimmed the backing band walked on stage to whoops and cheers, followed by a resurgence of cheers as the man himself walked on. The idea of the tour was to have fans send in their favourite Lior songs as well as some covers they wanted him to play live, describing it as his own Eurovision. “We’ve invited people to send in requests for what they want to hear,” he explained on stage.

Lior’s highly acclaimed vocals enraptured the audience as the sweetly melodic vocal inflections in his singing, denoting his Israeli heritage, sent shivers down many a spine.

Playing crowd favourites such as Daniel and This Old Love, the acoustic-driven indie songs left a warm, fuzzy feeling resonating within the crowd. Covers such as John Martin’s Satisfied Mind and Tom Petty’s Walls were given soothing, melodic interpretations. Even a whimsical tribute to Dr Hook with Cover of the Rolling Stone was on the menu, and turned into a crowd sing-along. This crowd was insatiable however; three encores were hardly enough to satiate the Lior-frenzied crowd.

No doubt the second of Lior’s tour dates will be met with the same fan fervour that was pervading throughout the crowd on Saturday night. Whether you were a long time Lior fan or just a musicophile looking for a good Saturday night out. The Fly By night on Friday was the place to be.