Mike Noga and the Gentlemen ofFortune, Ben Salter @ The StepInn, Brisbane (20/05/2011)

Sat 28th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

There’s an intimate crowd gathered around Ben Salter as he jams on his acoustic guitar, tucked away in the corner of The Step Inn. For his final song he’s pulled out the ‘play an upbeat pop song off the radio and turn it into a gorgeous acoustic gem’ card, crooning his way through La Roux’s In For the Kill. Following a warm round of applause, he asks Mike to come to the stage. Mike happens to be Mike Noga, drummer for one of Australia’s finest bands The Drones, and the star of tonight’s proceedings. Yes, we have officially entered the realm of the side project. It’s not unfamiliar territory for Noga, who put out his first solo effort Folk Songs in 2005. Since then he has been busily working on his solo repertoire, resulting in a second record The Balladeer Hunter, released earlier this year. Not long after, he landed the support slot on Seattle based group Band of Horses’ recent tour of Europe. Tonight’s gig is the final stop on a nationwide run of shows for Noga and his band The Gentlemen of Fortune, who together make a well matched Aussie supergroup; bass player Patrick Bourke is on loan from Dallas Crane while Angus Agars drums for Salter’s band The Gin Club.

The mellow crowd becomes lively as The Gentlemen of Fortune casually take to the stage, joined by a female violinist they found somewhere around town hours beforehand. It’s a good thing she was available: the impromptu recruitment works beautifully. The band happily moves through every song on The Balladeer Hunter, which has proven itself to be a major leap from Noga’s debut. The songwriting has become confident and revealing, a transition which has effortlessly mirrored itself in tonight’s show. The record’s softer side is deepened by the strings, creating a perfect contrast to Noga’s crisp vocals. The set is as soulful as it is charming, smoothly echoing the lighter shades of Bob Dylan on A Long Week and the darker shades of Nick Cave with Piss on a Butterfly.

As a seasoned solo performer, Noga shows no interest in fanfare. This is certainly not an evening aimed at The Drones fans, who are by reputation much more comfortable in amongst a sweaty mass of fellow hard rocking, head banging devotees. At one point during the show Noga stops to tune his guitar and jokes “pick the drummer trying to play the guitar.” It’s during his harmonica solo on the barren acoustic ballad I Will Have Nothing that I realize we can’t see him. The audience sway along indicates that any hard rocking, head banging devotees in attendance can’t, either.