FBi's Choose Your OwnAdventure @ Factory Theatre,Sydney (02/07/11)

Wed 6th Jul, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Big Dumb Kid is a hip-hop artist with a strange take on his own artform. Accompanied only by a drummer and some backing tracks, he presents a set of spaced-out, woozy tunes that incorporate his unbalanced flow of rapping and off-key singing. There are some clever arrangements and ideas amongst the tracks, but he never quite hits the stride that he so desires. Plenty of potential here, though, so investigate further if left-of-centre hip-hop is your thing.

By means of contrast, Port Macquarie rockers Royal Chant had no such problems, wasting no time in engaging their audience as best as they could. Their unashamed take on pub rock took its cues from acts like You Am I and The Hold Steady, but it never seemed uncool or derivative. It’s a rush of guitar-driven electric fun – and it’s a major credit to the band that they can rock a side-room in the late afternoon like it’s 10:30pm at a stick-floored RSL. Meat-and-potatoes rock rarely tastes this good.

Although Matt Corby’s quaint, quiet take on folk was difficult to hear above noise from outside, he still delivered an impressive display of his multifaceted talents. His stunning vocal range was used to full effect, by means of layering harmony after harmony, from low-key whispers to lilting falsetto, on a loop pedal. In one instance, after laying down a backing track of four-part harmonies, Corby strode away from the microphone and hollered into the audience without amplification, creating truly haunting atmosphere and one of the highlights of the entire day. Needless to say, watching Corby develop so fruitfully into an artist in his own right has been quite a sight to see.

“Wherever I am, that fucking dog goes,” croons Andy Bull in the middle of the song that just might be the death of him, Dog. As soon as it’s recognised, roughly forty kids swarm to the front and sing every word. Afterwards, they either walk off or stand around looking bored on account of Dog no longer being played. The piano-pop waltz feels like Bull’s One Crowded Hour – his biggest blessing and his biggest curse. It’s given him a crossover cool with triple j and Nova crowds, but will audiences ever realise just how much more Bull has to offer? Whether it’s the intrinsic groove of When the Penny Drops or the rocked-out finale of Nothing to Lose, the guy has an arsenal of outstanding tunes, fleshed out by guitarist Alex Bennison and drummer Dave Jenkins. Maybe it’s the curse of an AA crowd, but Andy sadly felt like a novelty to his audience, as opposed to the respected songwriter he not only is, but deserves to be recognised as.

Normally the right-hand man for Jack Ladder, it was peculiar to see Kirrin J. Callinan on his lonesome. Then again, it’s peculiar to see this guy any old place – he’s naturally awkward, and generates laughter from the audience without saying anything, perhaps even because of it. Still, being the weirdest act on a bill is nothing new to Callinan, and it’s a title he wore with pride throughout his set of jarring guitar noise, towering loops and downright creepy tales of lesbian love affairs. It was hard to tell if we were in the middle of a comedy or a tragedy, but it’s certain that the audience couldn’t look away regardless. Awkward and brooding, hilarious and terrifying, it’s strongly recommended that you go into one of Callinan’s shows with extreme caution.

The interstate glitch-pop of Collarbones reeled in the night-time with an absolutely wonderful performance. Sydney’s own Marcus Whale was quick to encourage the audience to let their freak flag fly – it doesn’t matter how uncool you are, just shut up and dance. Jamming out tracks from their debut, Iconography, the duo have certainly grown a lot more extroverted since their hunched-over-laptop beginnings as a live act. Whale grooves about the place like nobody’s business, even heading off to occasionally dance in the crowd, while partner-in-crime Travis Cook was more than happy to throw in some hilarious banter every now and then. These guys are total dorks – they cover Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez, they crump to Rihanna songs and they dance like nobody’s watching. In other words, they’re awesome.

Parades delivered the penultimate set of the evening with their usual proficiency and cohesion that has established their live reputation, particularly within the past eighteen months or so. Although the band started off with an appalling, near-deafening mix, this quickly settled within the first few songs and the band paid it no mind. Professional enough, sure, but it was clear from the get go that they weren’t exactly comfortable with playing what was such a large room. Having been on the road so consistently, it’s been interesting to see the quartet develop a tight, precise set of songs that thankfully doesn’t come across as too routine. With this in mind, it’s almost completely necessary for the band to take a break and come back with new material – as fine a live band as they are, there is only so many times they can perform the exact same list of songs.

Version 7.0 (or whatever we’re up to now) of Faker has had quite some time to prepare for tonight’s headlining performance, so can anyone help explaining exactly why their set was such a shambles? For one thing, Nic Munnings’ guitar could not be heard for the entire performance, and not even all of his enthusiastic dancing could change that. The new rhythm section were also quite sloppy in parts, barely making it through Be the Twilight hits This Heart Attack and Sleepwalking before losing their footing. At least, frontman Nathan Hudson was doing his best to rile up the crowd and get them involved in the strangely synth-driven new material from the upcoming Get Loved. That said, even he seemed a little off it tonight – maybe he was still reeling from his rough night in Launceston last week? An odd finale to what was quite an entertaining day full of some of our finest local produce.