Boy & Bear, Ball Park Music,The Paper Kites @ EnmoreTheatre, Sydney (05/11/2011)

Wed 9th Nov, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Boy & Bear continue to go from strength to strength, tonight’s show marking yet another milestone in the group’s already illustrious career. Supported by two of the most promising young bands in the country, tonight’s triple bill is a testament to the healthy state of the Australian music scene.

Melbourne five-piece The Paper Kites take the stage earlier than expected and are treated to a hospitable welcome from the small contingent of eager punters already occupying the Enmore Theatre floor. Their brand of indie folk is inoffensive and hardly original, though the group’s harmonizing boy-girl vocals and harmonica-ridden foot-stomping anthems provide enough allure to keep the attention of the growing audience for the entirety of their thirty-minute set.

Early highlight Featherstone is bursting with the kind of finger-picked guitar and delicate vocal delivery that was responsible for The Middle East’s success, while the guitar-driven Bloom generates the biggest crowd response of the set. Sam Bentley and Christina Lacy aren’t the only ones exercising their vocal cords though, as the crowd wish the bashful Bentley a happy birthday in song. The band’s most inspiring material is saved until last, with Lacy’s haunting performance of The Mortal Boy King the group’s only truly captivating moment on stage.

Ball Park Music don’t mess around when they take the stage, powering through their most well known tracks in rapid succession. The unaptly titled Shithaus introduces the now ample audience to the Brisbane six-piece’s upbeat melodic pop sound, while the cheerfully melancholic Sad Rude Future Dude exhibits Sam Cromack’s quirky lyricism.

Though the band’s music is undoubtedly enjoyable, its generic nature is hard to ignore, epitomised by current single All I Want Is You, which is abundant with the chirpy piano and hand-clapping that has been present in every twee-rock hit of the past decade. That said, Cromack is a fine performer, exuding confidence through his stage presence both during and in between songs. The frontman showcases his comedic ability throughout the set, prefacing one track by introducing it as the story of “getting eaten out by an alligator in North Queensland”. The band exit the stage after encouraging audience members to purchase the “human shit” they are selling at the merch stand, and performing recent single It’s Nice to Be Alive.

The lights have been dimmed, the standing audience now sprawls all the way back to the bar, and the mood inside the Enmore Theatre is one of fervent anticipation as all in attendance eagerly await the arrival of Boy & Bear.

A deafening roar erupts as the five-piece – as well as two additional string instrumentalists – emerge from the darkness. The hometown heroes open with the slowly building yet ultimately anticlimactic My Only One to a rather subdued reception, before launching into the more upbeat Milk & Sticks, during which we witness the first use of the extra band members, with the addition of cello and violin complementing the other instrumentation felicitously.

Boy & Bear thrive in a live environment, taking the opportunity to showcase their diversity, with the group’s eclectic influences on show in the afrobeat percussion of The Village and the frantic folk-rock of Golden Jubilee. The band’s renowned rendition of Crowded House’s Fall at Your Feet garners an appropriately ecstatic response from all in attendance, and frontman Dave Hosking appears genuinely astounded by the adoration. Seemingly humbled by the reaction, Hosking reveals to the audience that it has been a lifelong dream of his to play the Enmore Theatre. He doesn’t let his nerves get the better of him though, performing Rabbit Song and Part Time Believer with admirable gusto, before summoning both support acts to the stage to assist in vocal duties on Big Man. Hosking then warns the audience that the band “don’t do encores”, proceeding to conclude the performance with a rendition of Feeding Line that quite possibly featured the largest number of people whistling in unison since the last Peter, Bjorn & John tour.

Boy & Bear certainly don’t overstay their welcome, with their set time clocking in at just over one hour, and though their career is still in its infancy, with performances like that it’s safe to say that these guys won’t be falling off our radars anytime soon. Quality like this can’t be ignored.