Boy & Bear @ The GovernorHindmarsh, Adelaide (20/05/11)

Sun 22nd May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Boy & Bear have had a phenomenal upwards spiral in their career of late. Plucked out of obscurity through Triple J Unearthed, the Sydney five-piece (who can thank an online name-generator for the band’s name) were slotted into 2009’s Homebake festival before earning a name for themselves supporting the likes of Angus & Julia Stone and Mumford & Sons ahead of releasing their debut EP With Emperor Antartica. But it was their 2010 cover of Crowded House’s Fall At Your Feet which really shone the spotlight in their direction and earned them a top five placing in the latest Hottest 100 countdown. And now, on the back of that success, the boys have just returned from recording their debut album in Nashville (Tennessee) and are touring the country giving fans a taste of their new direction. Tonight’s stop: Adelaide.

I was honestly surprised to hear tonight’s show had sold out so fast- the last time Boy & Bear were in Adelaide, they played to a decent sized but under-enthusiastic crowd at Fowlers Live. But nevertheless, tonight’s venue upgrade was obviously warranted. Despite a sold-out crowd, there wasn’t too much of an audience for opener Emma Louise, a relatively unknown solo artist out of Cairns. The lack of audience (or at least an attentive one) was a real shame as this girl has some serious talent. If Sarah Blasko, The Jezabels and Bertie Blackman had a love child, Emma Louise would be said child. Her voice is mesmerizingly beautiful and emotive and her music is delicate and whimsical. Although similar sounding to a lot of the mellower indie-pop to emerge of late, there is something refreshingly mature about her style- for a 19 year old, she shows maturity well beyond her years. By the end of her short set, the audience seemed to have succumbed to her charm, with her sweetness and charisma winning most of the crowd over by the end, with her fairly well-known single Jungle getting heads and feet bopping along.

A decent crowd had gathered at this point, and there was a lot of excitement in the air for the main support, Jinja Safari. Another success story from Triple J Unearthed, they won the coveted opening spot at last year’s Splendour In The Grass festival and haven’t looked back since. Seeing as I missed them last time they were in Adelaide, I was as eager as any to catch them live, having heard only great things about them. And they did not disappoint.

A lot more intense live than I had anticipated, the five piece launched right into things with Forest Eyes off their self-titled EP. Leaving behind the playful feel of the EP, the chimerical, afropop rhythms made way for heavy percussion and guitar which fit in well with the amount of energy the band exuded. Partying through an amazingly lively set, they played new and old tracks, including latest single Hiccups plus a few unfamiliar songs from their upcoming release Scarecrow.

It’s great when you go see a band live and they look like they are genuinely enjoying doing what they are doing. And that is exactly what Jinja Safari did, from the second they took to the stage they enjoyed every minute of it, dancing up a storm and playing like there was no tomorrow (no rapture pun intended). It all went to a whole new level though when the undeniably catchy riff of Peter Pan started up… played on none other than a gigantic sitar, which, coupled with the eccentricity of the band, just took it to a whole new level, the crowd absolutely soaked up the moment and danced up a storm. Closing the set with the more mellow Stepping Stones, Jinja Safari certainly had given Boy & Bear a challenging evening ahead- for a band that is so young in experience, they have really nailed the art of live performance. Something that Boy & Bear still struggle to achieve.

With dangling light bulbs and a table lamp to create ambience, Boy & Bear came out to a great reception and did the one thing that I consider to be a performance sin- they opened with a new track. Not only does this kill the hype, but it puts off the audience and struggles to engage them. Luckily though, they followed up with Mexican Mavis from their EP which brought things back on track, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the audience actually knew the song, I was expecting a lot of bandwagon-jumpers who were there purely for Fall At Your Feet but I was (happily) proven wrong.

With the majority of their set consisting of new material, tonight gave the audience a sneak-peek at what to expect from their upcoming debut album. Heading in a much more rock-influenced direction, the boys have abandoned their melodious folk style and it’s not something I’m sure they’ve worked out how to perform live. With an already awkward stage presence, singer Dave Hosking did little in the way of commanding the stage, instead cruising through the rockier tracks, rarely engaging with the audience and using very little energy. For a band that has had the touring experience these lads have, you would expect them to have perfected their performance and understood their performing space but they are still, unfortunately, not quite there- no matter how atmospheric the lighting was.

THAT song, Fall At Your Feet was surprisingly slotted in the middle of the set, and (not surprisingly) received a great reception, with camera phones being whipped out left, right and centre to capture the moment. And it was a magical moment. Their rendition of this song truly gives me goosebumps. Undoubtedly deserving of its #5 spot in the Hottest 100, it was performed beautifully and proved to be the highlight of their set, even with the audience singing along drowning out Hosking’s vocals. Slotting in not long after was the other crowd favourite (and #45 in the Hottest 100), Rabbit Song. When the crowd sang along to this, the band looked genuinely humbled and thankful, which was nice to see, as crowd sing-a-longs are something that a lot of artists take for granted nowadays. They closed their set with new single Feeding Line, a definite signal of their heavier direction and a song that received a mixed welcoming by the crowd, many of whom I believe much prefer their laid-back folk sound, myself included.

Compared to their previous show in Adelaide, everything was a lot better, the crowd were more enthusiastic and responsive and Boy & Bear certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves more this time around. But unfortunately for them, they were outshone completely by Jinja Safari. Dangling light bulbs, table lamps and the occasional cheeky smile from Hosking just could not compete against Jinja Safari’s infectious energy and high-rhythm performance. But they say all good things take time so fingers-crossed Boy & Bear can find the time to perfect their performance style, they seem to have everything else under control.