Mat McHugh @ The Bakery, Perth(05/08/11)

Mon 8th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Everyone knew that a show of Mat McHugh (aka the man behind The Beautiful Girls ) would be a laidback affair. But it was the audience who took this laissez-faire attitude too far, chattering away nonplussed about who was onstage for most of the evening.

Ashleigh Mannix was the support, a pretty surfer girl with pretty surfer girl music. She had a good voice, but her poppy folk was a bit lost on the otherwise occupied crowd. She obviously had musical talent with a strong voice and good guitar abilities but this wasn’t really translating to any emotive reaction from the crowd.

Considering Mat McHugh really is a pretty surfer boy, the support was a good match in that way but his lyrics just seem more complex or more heartfelt perhaps. My Mind Is An Echo Chamber was his first offering off his new EP Go Don’t Stop. It was a chilled out affair as expected from his roots singer-songwriting, but mostly drowned out by the chatter of the crowd who hadn’t seemed to realise the man they’d paid to see was on the stage. Cash Money an old Beautiful Girls track helped somewhat to attract their attention with devotees starting to sing along. Go Don’t Stop was an impressive number with McHugh making use of a loop pedal to create layers of different textural elements, showing his different direction in his solo route away from the band he used to have as backing.

Some Bob Marley was thrown in for good measure, before launching into a walk down memory lane, reminiscing about many a festival day in the sun cruising around to the sweetness of the Beautiful Girls. Let’s Take The Long Way Home; Music; Blackbird; Periscopes and La Mar topped off the night each eliciting singalongs from new and old fans alike.

McHugh stepping out on his own has shown the integrity of the songs and his ability as a singer-songwriter. It was a different vibe to having the band there, with McHugh using his loop pedal quite frequently during the evening as a way of adding textures and elements. But it really is about the lyrics and melodies of these songs which don’t need any bells and whistles to show their power. They get you in the heart, as a songwriter McHugh has a way with words melodies that are just so easy to connect to.

McHugh and Mannix both deserved more respect than they were given by the crowd on Friday night. They are both performers who let the songs speak for themselves but unfortunately on this occasion this didn’t capture the crowd’s attention. Perhaps they would have suited a smaller enclosed venue to help create more of an atmosphere. In any case those who were paying attention appreciated the walk down memory lane of listening to the old Beautiful Girls songs and also the glimpse of new things to come from McHugh.