The Panics, Grace Woodroofe,Split Seconds @ Oxford ArtFactoy, Sydney (09/07/11)

Wed 13th Jul, 2011 in Gig Reviews

There is something in the water in WA. Not like what’s in the water in Sydney, but something that seems to inspire talent and creativity in the musicians and performers who eventually head east. Tonight a sold out Oxford Art Factory was treated to two of Western Australia’s brightest emerging talents, as well as one of their most critically acclaimed veterans.

Six piece, Split Seconds, deceptively introduced themselves with synth strings and melancholy vocal harmonies but it soon builds up to surprising crescendos and start stop dynamics that manage to silence a chatty pre-headliner crowd. The real highlights of their short set were their bright pop tunes, there three guitar attack wasn’t overbearing, letting each instrument find it’s voice without bludgeoning the people listening with the one sound.

Members of Split Seconds jump between instruments and seem to know the importance of their rolls, with tambourines being played with as much energy and respect as any other instrument on stage. The songs themselves also keep things on stage fresh. _Bed Down _ is a waltz that highlights the groups knack for harmonies, but set closer All That You Do shows of their skills as great pop writers but also their live skills, as they turn on dimes throughout the songs dynamic rhythm changes.

Taking the stage in a little lace dress, Grace Woodroofe surprises much of the room with her explosion of dirty garage rock, everything thing seemed raw and a little off kilter as Grace howled through her set. Like watching her exercise her demons through rock and roll, Woodroofe’s hair flailed about her head as she either strummed along on her acoustic guitar or shook her arms to the music.

For the most part of her set Grace was backed by a four piece band who were on fire for the most part, however some out of time keys had to be corrected by Grace counting the beat with her fist during _Battles _, and a chatty guitarist and bass player proved to be distracting and disrespectful to the rest of performers on stage during the latter half of the set.

Besides these points Woodroofe’s performance was engaging as she disarmed the audience with her coy smile and husky voice. Showing her power of her voice lies not only in volume, Grace’s solo performance H was spine tingling, her dexterous picking ringing as her voice haunted quietly, without falling into twee folk cliché.

Finishing her set with a blistering performance of Bear and _ Iggy and the Stooges_ cover, Now I Want to be Your Dog, Woodroofe made her mark on the Sydney audience. Her stand out performance was bolstered by the strength of her song writing and hopefully next time she is in Sydney she is backed by more respectful musicians.

The Panics slink onto the stage finally and after some friendly greetings play One Way Street, the first of the nights many songs from their upcoming album Rain On The Humming Wire. The song is unknown, yet not unfamiliar, the familiar piano thump and spaghetti western guitars seem to have returned and appear again in new tracks Creatures and their single Majesty.

Creaks from 2007’s Cruel Guards breaks the spell over the punters and their energy finally rises to match what was being exuded on stage. The group have a ball on stage, happy to be playing their older tracks for the audience, Sleeps Like A Curse is vibrant as it marches along, the front of house mix balanced evenly between all the instruments on stage and Jae Laffer’s voice is loud and clear as he leads the crowd through choruses, both classic and unknown.

A solo performance from Jae of In Your Head from their early EP Crack in the Wall proved a special treat for their long time fans and showed the commanding power of Laffer’s song writing that lets him captain a band of such strong talents. As a unit their performance is tight, but they don’t seem to be playing to a structured show and their performance flows naturally from song to song.

Finishing their set with Cruel Guards, Don’t Fight It and a special performance of Matchstick with Grace Woodroofe, showed off the bands strengths in big choruses and hooks as well as their growing collection of classic singles. The Panics capped off a night of wonderful musicians from way out west, playing favourites and soon-to-be favourites with the same energy, and a sound that belies the small size of the venue.