Jordie Lane, Mike Noga @ TheFront, Canberra (27/7/11)

Fri 29th Jul, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The Front is a venue that can’t help but feel intimate, and Jordie Lane and Mike Noga’s gig on Wednesday night was no exception. Soft yellow light glowed through vintage lampshades; the mismatched couches were pushed together in a semicircle, and the wine-sipping crowd squashed in close together.

Long-time drummer for The Drones, Mike Noga, feigned shock at playing in such a cosy venue, greeting the crowd with a friendly, “You’re all pretty much hugging me, hello.” This was Noga’s first gig on the Blood Thinner tour (Jordie Lane played solo for the first five shows). Despite discovering that his house had been robbed just moments before the gig and grappling with an almost lost voice, Noga gave a stunningly relaxed, engaging performance.

While he was quite the comedian between songs, Noga’s short set was packed with emotional honesty and intensity. He combined simple acoustic guitar and harmonica arrangements with standout, heartfelt lyrics that drew the crowd in.

The set took a melancholy turn halfway through, as Noga played a hauntingly sad rendition of Piss on a Butterfly, followed by the equally sombre All my Friends are Alcoholics. With lines like “Hold me up like a picture frame and blow me out like a final flame, because a lonely man forgets nobody’s name,” Piss on a Butterfly is a work of lyrical genius that was only improved by Noga’s sincere delivery – and there was more than one person trying to blink back tears afterwards. Noga showed that he is a born performer and a talented musician, and it was great to see what he is capable of when he isn’t behind a drum kit.

Noga’s night wasn’t over after his set finished. He then perched on the window sill and played drums for Jordie Lane. Lane is a natural storyteller, and treated the gig as though it were part musical performance and part sharing of stories. He alternated between singing and relegating tales from his recent trip to the United States, which was the inspiration for his new album, Blood Thinner.

Like Noga, Lane’s performance was laid-back and jovial, but also had its tender moments. They joked together about Noga’s house being robbed, and between them and the other band members; Grant Cummerford on bass and Matt Green on guitar, they made it seem like they were having a Sunday afternoon jam session in Lane’s lounge room.

The music had a distinct bluegrass vibe, with a rolling rhythm, but the crowd didn’t seem to really feel it until Lane swapped his guitar for a banjo early in the set. He worked hard to make sure the crowd was having a nice time, asking, “What do you guys feel like hearing? Has it been too ‘down’ so far?” and even invited an audience member onstage to play the wine glass during one of his songs.

Canberra was treated to the first ever live performance of a new track from the Blood Thinner album, Old Time Spell, and the crowd lapped it up. Old Time Spell is more contemporary than his other songs, but doesn’t stray from the trademark folk and blues sound that he has become renowned for. Always the sweetheart, Lane dedicated his last song to his grandmother before playing the feature track off his 2008 album, Sleeping Patterns, I Could Die Looking at You, as an encore.