Eskimo Joe, Myles Mayo,Felicity Groom @ The EastBrunswick Club, Melbourne(27/05/2011)

Tue 31st May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Eskimo Joe’s new album When We Were Kids is due out in August and currently, they are touring to intimate crowds in order to test and introduce their new material. In the comparatively modest surrounds of the East Brunswick Club, they mixed a handful of their most popular oldies with the best of the new album, stripping down some of the songs to play acoustically.

Felicity Groom impressed as an opener for the evening; her voice injected with more soulful melody in the live context than on record. Myles Mayo followed in a similar vein, with a mixture of deep soul offset by several ventures into a more pop mode, particularly on songs such as How You’ve Done Me Wrong. The two served as a terrific precursor to the main set, rewarding all of those who had arrived early.

Due to their experience in bigger venues, it was clear that playing to a sold out crowd of 400 people at The East Brunswick club didn’t exactly faze Eskimo Joe. Opener and past single New York provided a solid, if not particularly exhilarating start. Their movements may have been fairly limited, but Eskimo Joe do retain a magnetic onstage quality that makes it difficult not to be drawn in by their presence. Kav Temperley’s pleasant, unique vocals remain similarly strong, and when Older Than You followed, it was greeted by many cheers.

Having warmed the crowd up and offered a short explanation about the purpose of their tour, the band pushed through When We Were Kids and Childhood Behaviour. The latter may have been slower in tempo, but the understated backing of Joel Quartermain and Stuart MacLeod really emphasised the strength of Temperley’s vocals and helped position the song as one of the night’s best. Crowd favourite Sarah, from Black Fingernails, Red Wine, maintained the impressive momentum the band had succeeded in creating only a few songs in.

Several more in and Temperley began explaining the voting procedure on their website for which songs should be played at their gigs. He announced that the most voted for song on their website was Planet Earth, before preceding to play it; something that prompted squeals from several front-row diehards. Next, they explained how they wanted to ‘break down’ _Don’t Let me Down’ and perform an acoustic version. The only problem was, they forgot the first line. What seemed initially to be a joke, proved to be an unprofessional error. MacLeod’s description of the gaff as a ‘brain fart’ did, however, help alleviate some of the awkward tension and they eventually moved through the song with relative confidence.

New single Echoes impressed, while full bodied renditions of Foreign Land and Black Fingernails, Red Wine were predictably well received. In spite of running well over time, Eskimo Joe returned for an “unprepared encore.” Another new song entitled Love Is a Drug showed off a greater vocal range of all band members, before the evening was brought to a close with a fantastic finale of From The Sea.

On leaving the EBC, ticket holders were able to claim a free copy of the single When We Were Kids. Judging from the crowd response, both it and the album as a whole seem destined to be as popular as their previous work.