Little Birdy @ Ruby's Lounge(12/09/06)

Fri 15th Sep, 2006 in Gig Reviews

The sassy and raw Ruby’s Lounge was the perfect venue for Little Birdy to mark its return. Three years after releasing its stunning debut EP the band hit the stage to present material from its upcoming second album.

Fellow Perth band One Horse Town opened the show with classic rock attitude executed by the vocal styling of Sascha Ion. Ion is a strong vocalist but the band’s performance was somewhat stagnant and passive. The audience were supportive nonetheless but the crowd’s eagerness for the headlining band was building.

By the time Little Birdy took to the stage the smoky room was filled with a laid back atmosphere, which allowed people to dance and sing along, or soak up the show from the back of the room with an excellent view. The crowd fell into the alternative spectrum, somewhere between rock enthusiasts and pop appreciators.

The performance started with a tune from Little Birdy’s debut album BigBigLove juxtaposed by the first single from the upcoming album Hollywood. Come on Come on is an easy transition from one album to the other. The band has stayed true to its roots and progressed with a little more grunt. The set list introduced some powerful new songs to the band’s repertoire. Bodies is a slower moving track tinged with an infectious chorus. It’s definitely a song to keep an ear out for.

The theme that arose from the new material was the increased emphasis on the keyboard. It adds a more kooky and contagious element to the songs with fantastic results but the night wasn’t all about showcasing the new album. Plenty of time was devoted to a merry sing-a-long to the band’s back catalogue. A Little Birdy show certainly wouldn’t be complete without a haunting rendition of Relapse or the crowd favourite Beautiful to Me. The punters happily sapped up Message to God, Losing You, Excited and This is a Love Song, to name a few of the classics.

Split Enz cover Six Months in a Leaky Boat also made a well received appearance but the more surprising cover of the evening was Gyroscope’s Beware Wolf. It wasn’t a song that I traditionally saw the band covering but to Little Birdy’s credit it was a sizzling rendition. Katy Steele has no problem pulling off a straight up rock and roll tune.

The gig was a celebration of music from the past, present and future and was an insightful reminder of why this Perth band continues to gain support all over the country.