Leader Cheetah, Belles WillRing, Gold Bloom @ Fowlers,Adelaide (09/09/11)

Mon 12th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It seems like only a few months ago when Leader Cheetah released their debut Sunspot Letters to national acclaim, feature album status on Triple J and a stack of high level international supports like Blonde Redhead and Doves.

It was hard to predict how well they’d do at Fowlers, stepping up from the home comfort of Jive, a smaller and much intimate venue, arguably more suited to their warmer sound. However, any fears of a smaller gathering were laid to rest with a huge local crowd filling out Fowlers. With cult local support Gold Bloom and retro-indie act Belles Will Ring warming the stage it was a fantastic night of quality music at the higher end of the ‘indie’ spectrum.

Gold Bloom have truly come of age, in the last few weeks, which is a strange thing to say for a band only a few months old. With some early line-up changes things early performances were shaky with a clear sense of potential, but now in a short space of time they’ve quickly blossomed into a killer outfit with some strong tracks, worthy of national airplay. A good sign of a band is the on stage chemistry and camaraderie and it’s safe to say these girls have it in spades. The songs vary from the more ethereal and gentle to gutsy and ballsy, without sacrificing their charm. One fantastic attribute of the band is that each member has a clear defined presence and strong contribution, with three members taking the lead vocals at different times. There’s no doubt the people of Adelaide, and beyond, will be hearing much more about this instantly likable quartet over the next 12 months.

Belles Will Ring were a real surprise packet. This Blue Mountains outfit have an obvious haunting sixties influence with tight, well defined harmonies, sharp sounding guitars gloriously filling out their sound and strangely enough, very good use of a tambourine creating a jangly retro vibe. Their sound is obviously reminiscent of the Mamas and Papas, and perhaps even the Kinks, but in saying that, to be able to pull it off is worthy of great praise. Their capacity for arrangements was truly impressive and there’s little doubt, right now, they are one of the best live acts floating around the country.

Leader Cheetah have really grown into their skin…. or maybe I should say their lustrous spotted fur (bad pun). More-to-the-point Dan Crannitch is oozing a lot more confidence as a frontman. Gone are the shakier, more thought out vocal hesitations. His voice still retains the quivering throaty character from their first record, yet it seems somehow fuller, more confident. Perhaps, it’s not surprising on the back of some huge supports and with the experience granted by their successful highly rated debut. All bands members, in some way seem to have stepped up a notch, although lead guitarist Dan Pash was always quite solid. If anything, the rhythm sections feels somewhat more cohesive, perhaps not to the extent of Belles Will Ring, but they would always be a very hard act to follow. Violin player, and talented multi-instrumentalist Tom Spall played his part well, although was, at times, hard to pick up in the mix.

The new songs are solid, more optimistic, yet perhaps need a couple of listens to sink in. The haunting mystery that was woven into tracks like Bloodlines doesn’t seem as present in the new material, but each album has it’s own character and there’s a brighter, positive element to Lotus Skies. Yet essentially in a live show the only thing that matters is the way the songs flow and with this show, the act had everything worked out well.

Like any band worth their salt, their live show features the best of the old and a whole lot of the new. It would have been good to hear some classics like Dianne from the first record, but still Our Love and the achingly nostalgic Crawling Up a Landslide have a storytelling element of their own.

There was a sorta Broken Social Scene moment at the end with members of the support acts coming on the stage in the end to sing-a-along, always easy for an audience to lap up. Finishing on one of their best tracks Shiver to the Bone was a masterstroke. More importantly perhaps, there was a strong sense of the mutual love between town and band – something simply magical to behold.