Jane Sage, Hannah Gillespie,Adelaide Jones @ The Front,Canberra (30/7/11)

Mon 1st Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Jane Sage, Hannah Gillespie and Adelaide Jones’ gig felt more like a joint birthday party than musical performance. Most of the crowd seemed to know at least one of the hostesses, and were keen to socialise, rather than listen to the music. Their chatting was loud enough to swallow up opening support act Adelaide Jones’ slightly husky voice and acoustic melodies. Those who couldn’t make their way to the front of the stage were lucky to hear more than random chunks of choruses, or the occasional verse.

The crowd continued to chat at a slightly lower decibel throughout Hannah Gillespie’s set. Gillespie was joined by the capable Matt Nightingale on double bass and a heroic – albeit slightly stiff – guitar player who had only learned the songs that afternoon. Gillespie’s powerful and clear voice complemented her country-folk style, and her songs were well composed and thoughtfully executed. Despite talking through the entire set, the crowd cheered when Gillespie was finished and demanded an encore performance, which she politely declined.

With tousled hair, a flowing black maxi dress, and a Carlton Draught in hand, acoustic folk rock musician Jane Sage looked more suited to an afternoon on the beach than a winter gig in Canberra. After being greeted by the audience with an enthusiastic “Hi, Miss Jane!”, she opened with a song she’d written as a teenager, Pure Bliss, which was so genuine that when she sang “I could fall into the depths of your eyes,” the audience almost believed it.

By the second song it became clear that Sage takes solace in the familiar, rather than experimenting within her genre. Her strength comes from the emotions in the songs and her incredible vocal abilities, rather than from the music or lyrics. This was highlighted when she played a raw and arresting a capella version of If You Were a Song. It was enough to make the audience stop talking and pay attention for the first time that night.

At one point she and her accompanist Cameron Sage swapped their guitars for a mandolin and a ukulele. They confessed to not usually playing either instrument, but were giving it a go for novelty’s sake. Cameron Sage should be commended for a particularly impressive ukulele riff on Whispers.

The second half of her set was dedicated to playing songs from her debut album, Worlds Apart. These songs had more maturity and vocal control than what we had heard earlier in the night, and it was nice to track the progression of her as a musician from her teens (with Pure Bliss) to now.

The stand out song of the night was Baby Blue, which was written by Gillespie and performed by Jane Sage. It was simultaneously soothing and haunting, and the lyrics were the best we’d heard from either Gillespie or Jane Sage all night.