Lanie Lane, Fearless VampireKillers & Miss Little @ TheOld Museum (28/10/2011)

Fri 28th Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Miss Little started the night to a generally older and sedate, but by no mean disinterested, crowd. The Sydney based artist has a great on stage presence and had the camp fire style crowd all sitting around enchanted by her ethereal voice, and thought provoking prose. After a beautiful opening song of flowing melodies and brooding vocals, the performance started with Get Lucid. Wearing a Jackson/military style jacket, Sarah has a style just as unique as her own special brand of indie pop. The solo performance came to an end as she brought to stage her bassist and drummer (at least in electronic form) for How Does it Feel. The infectiously chirpy Miss Little then announced to the attentive crowd that this was her first ever Brisbane show, before playing a yet to be named number, coined as “Folk-Hop”. Whilst it was admittedly a struggle to see the hip-hop side, the song certainly had an individual sound, with fantastic keyboard melodies throughout and a contrasting chorus. The only disappointing aspect was that throughout the performance, a constant maelstrom of conversation could be heard in the background, which often distracted from a show that to some extent felt more like it should be quietly appreciated and reflected upon. This didn’t stop Sarah from finishing the set with a stirring rendition of Fingers of Love by her favourite artist Neil Finn.

Fearless Vampire Killers were next to grace the stage; bringing with them their own special kind of “Late Brian Jones years Rolling Stones” sounding grungey pop rock all the way from Melbourne. Having been getting plenty of air time recently of national broadcaster Triple J, plenty of people were keen to see how they would perform live; especially so with the release of their debut LP Batmania only a couple of weeks ago. The show begins with Loaded Gun, and the scene is set for what is to come; with plenty of dirty guitar riffs, and simple but strong and hard drum beats. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sean Ainsworth displays a stage presence and timber to his voice that is impressive for his age. Next up is Alright Now a clear radio favourite, and despite the mainly seated audience being rather sedate, it’s clear they are enjoying the performance, with an almost unanimous head bopping, helped no doubt by drummer Justin Olsson’s skills on the skins. Some minor guitar string-related technical difficulties made for some awkward on stage moments, and despite their best efforts at banter, crowd chit chat and poor sound made them almost inaudible. The Sinner and For You and Me followed in quick succession, with some quality harmonising between Sean and Lead Guitarist Al Marx. The band have a freakishly Beatles feel about them, and fittingly they slide into a slightly more youthful cover of Yer Blues. After only one more song Tell Me What, the band have some more guitar difficulties, however unphased they go on to complete the set with well know tracks Giant and Monkey.

Finally the house lights were turned down, the room was at capacity, and no longer was the lone dancing woman the only person standing. In fact by the time Lanie Lane sauntered onto the stage everybody was on their feet and waiting patiently for what proved to be a night of great music and on stage finesse. Joined on stage by Fearless Vampire Killers frontman Sean, To the Horses had everyone swaying along and tapping their feet, with the back of house all but empty.

Following on was Jungle Man, which saw the rest of the band join Lanie on stage, and maybe it’s just me, but there is something inherently sexy about a woman rocking a double bass… Yes? Anybody? Oh Well, I don’t care, it worked. Relaxed vocals guitar riffs lead into The Devil’s Sake, further showcasing the talent of all on stage; unfortunately sound levelling left something to the imagination, but this seemed to pick up as the show went on. Betty Baby kept the rolling blues going, with simple drums and punctuated vocals, matched with some fantastic on-stage rock moves. Lane utilized the guitar as so much more than an instrument, but like a prop too, further enhancing her “by gone era” look, that somehow still looks modern and relevant.

Despite having a sound that could be pigeon-holed as rockabilly, country rock or blues, Lane’s music is actually quite difficult to pin down, because it has this effect of being firmly in our time, but yet still sounding like it’s from a time gone by. Continual talking to the crowd made everyone feel like they were more than just onlookers, and showed the personal side of Lane, which is a rather cheeky and fun side that everyone seemed unable to not fall in love with. Like Me Meaner, a song about unrequited love, but which actually has an incredibly sexy smooth sound to it, adds to this list of wonderful contradictions.

By the time her solo performance What Trouble Is came up, the whole front line was dancing along. Next to come was My Man (the B Side to her Ain’t Hungry EP), a song which she got Miss Little to jump on the synth and help out with. Lane and Sean then do something interesting by each performing a song about the night they first met (_Stranger Girl_ and Don’t Cry Respectively), and she cried on his shoulder after being hurt by another man, it was a sweet moment, and a nice twist, to see two versions of the same event. Miss Little jumps up once more for Heart Beats, followed by a slow soulful ballad showcasing Lane’s southern vocal stylings. The show then ends on a bit of a saucier and fast paced note with a song about hooking up with a cowboy (_That’s What You Get For Falling In Love With a Cowboy_), and the recent favourite Aint Hungry, and just to keep the people happy and encore performance of Bang Bang, and record signings.