Bluebottle Kiss, Pivot, Fromthe South @ANU Bar (07/09/06)

Sun 10th Sep, 2006 in Gig Reviews

A line up featuring From the South, Pivot and Bluebottle Kiss drew an eclectic, albeit small, crowd to the ANU Bar. This mish-mashed crowd – comprised of indie devotees, loyal Bluebottle Kiss fans, experimental  music enthusiasts and even a couple of beef-cake jocks playing pool down the back – were living examples of a music program which clashed more than orange juice and toothpaste.

From the South opened with their Indie rock tunes nicely warming the stage while a relaxed crowed hugged their beers and sipped their Semillons in a subdued but pleasantly uncrowded bar. Their style, although not anywhere close to the renowned ‘adventurism’ of headline act Bluebottle kiss, suited the vibe of the gig a great deal more than Pivot, the second act.

Described as ‘post rock’ by fellow fasterlouder reviewer snoz rap, Pivot’s instrumental sound heavily featured keyboard melodies and very little did vocals or guitar take a leading role in driving the music along. The four piece outfit’s sound was one of groovy mystical experimentation – which on paper would arguable compliment Bluebottle Kiss’ diverse musical style and creativity.

Disappointingly, the effect on me (which was in part aided along by my lounging with a few cold ones in one of the booths) was that I was listening to something comparable to a Ministry of Sound Chill Out Mix or kitsch ‘Late Night Moods’ CD sold by K-Mart. At one point I wondered whether perhaps I had lost my way and I was actually sitting in an uber-cool city lounge bar sucking back some hideously overpriced cocktail with an unpronounceable name. But nope, I was indeed at the ANU bar, supposedly being primed to hear one of Australia’s most renowned innovative and original acts, and instead of being ready to get down to business and be wowed by their genre-transcending tunes, I was ready to trot home to the cot. While I did enjoy their music, it seemed noticeably out of place and did very little to complement either of the acts they had been sandwiched between.

Perhaps Bluebottle Kiss intuited this, and upon taking the stage struck a deal with the audience- “If you get on your feet we’ll play a show worthy of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band”. Whilst not quite springing out of our seats, the first song garnered applause and helped to thaw us out of our relaxed/comatose state.

The sound of Bluebottle Kiss is one that has never been capable of being pigeon-holed.  This reputation remains intact with their latest album release, Doubt seeds, their sixth album. While the Canberra crowd wasn’t as lucky as our Melbournian and Brisbanian cousins to hear the full 13 piece band play the double album in its entirety, we were instead asked to “indulge us” by front man Jamie Hutchings as they played a mixture of new and a few oldies. The audience was more than accommodating, responding to the old and new material with Springsteen-worthy applause.

Jamie Hutchings’ voice possesses an element of angst, perhaps like a grittier Nick Cave, which helped to unify and lead the many layers of sound beneath it. Highlights from the set included ‘Fire Engine’ with its chant-like climax, ‘Little Black Dahlias’ and ‘A Little bit of Light’- coincidentally all tracks from’ Doubt Seeds.’

Impossible to describe as boring, the set encapsulated the essence of what attracts fans to Bluebottle Kiss- diversity, innovation and adventurism. The experimentation was taken to the next level when “a weird little switch I’ve never before” was located on Hutchings’ guitar and given a test run right there on stage.

Complete with a song dedication to the recently deceased Steve Irwin – which Hutchings rationalised by explaining that you never know what life will bring you next – and a promise to deliver “kisses after the show” if the audience would get out of their seats; the gig had it all – with the exclusion of engaging with the audience. Although, given the visibly diverse and subdued nature of those present and the inability of the support acts to get things moving, this lack of energy was perhaps not the fault of Bluebottle Kiss and should not overshadow what was essentially a very distinctively ‘different’ gig.