British Sea Power, Fire! SantaRosa, Fire! @ East BrunswickClub, Melbourne (27/07/11)

Sat 30th Jul, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Gig clashes are the bane of many festival-goer’s experiences. Despite the meticulous highlighter pen-aided pre-planning, that last minute pang to see if you can catch the first half of one act and hightail it to connect on the tail end of the other is fraught with danger, and you can often end up missing the best bits of both acts and ruing the decision evermore. Melbourne experienced a city-wide festival timetable clash on a dreary Wednesday night, with UK vets Elbow fighting it out with critically-acclaimed British Sea Power and indie-darlings Warpaint. And with a cross-town dash seemingly impossible, punters clearly spoke with their feet and apart from 100-odd true believers, BSP seemed to be everyone’s Option C.

Adelaide five-piece Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! battled through with less than a hand-full of followers out early. The smattering of applause died off quickly between songs, leaving a dreadful silence so still the on-stage off-mic discussions were clearly audible towards the back of the room. To not only carry on under such circumstances, but to pull out a fairly passable and energetic show is testament to their work ethic, even if they admitted towards the end that it had turned into a live-rehearsal of their newer material. The group’s dreamy pop sits comfortably on the hipster/indie end of the spectrum, with a pleasant hat-tip to 90s female-led groove-oriented electronica (Morcheeba, Moloko, Portishead, etc). Bassist Josh Flavel stands rooted to the spot and rigid, which belies how much he shapes the nocturnal rhythmic pattern and allows guitarists Nathaniel and David significant whimsical freedom. Underlying it all is vocalist Caitlin Duff’s at-times morose wail which, while almost at odds with the instruments around it, paints a rather stark search-for-meaning portrait.

British Sea Power’s live shows are somewhat of an enigma amongst the musical press. Almost every interview or news piece makes special mention of the nature of the live offering, often coupling it with the exotic and strange locations. A cold, almost empty East Brunswick Club on a weeknight, however, is no Glastonbury mainstage or Great Wall of China, but that in itself seemed to provide a crackle of excitement for a small band of die-hards at the front, as well as piquing the interest for the gaggle of by-standers filling out the rest of the room.

From the outset, a stage presence signalled a slight change in direction for the five piece, with brass/keyboard player Phil Sumner donning an identical Heritage Red Gibson SG for set opener Who’s In Control? I don’t know if it was intentional, but three identical guitars, held high on the hips and strummed with solid intent is a sight to behold. No matter how indie you want to get, an 18-string Gibson guitar attack brings the rock tingles back in spades. While the relentless rock attack continued straight up with Remember Me, the development never once devolved into a wall-of-sound affair. The solid rhythm strummed by Sumner and singer-guitarist Scott Wilkinson left guitarist Martin Noble considerable freedom to noodle around the edges, providing a pleasant depth of sound.

Despite the balls out rawk entry into the gig, though, a distinct workman-like approach seemed to be in the air for the bulk of the set. We Are Sound and Atom both promised a world of epic, but seem to dwindle away with a lack energy. Apologies To Insect Life was given a grown up treatment and was offered as more melodic, rather than the ballsy post-punk edge of the recorded version. The toe-tapping No Lucifer gave bassist Neil Hamilton Wilkinson a stint on main vocal duties and drove a solid wedge through the middle of the set, before a focus on earlier material dominated the race the set closing.

A quartet of dramatic tunes bookended by George Ray (from new album Valhalla Dancehall) and the raw The Spirit of St Louis saw the band lighten up considerably and, for the first time of the night, showcased Abi Fry’s viola. And with that, usual set formalities were dispensed with and the band spent the encore break on stage sharing a beer and working out the remainder of the set. A runaway trio of breakthrough 2003 single Carrion, an almost a capella All In It and the instrumental unreleased Rock In A closed a rather solid but unremarkable gig from a group touted to be one of the festival must-sees, who it must be said suffered from very tough cross-town competition.