Laura Veirs and Jen Cloher @The Corner, Melbourne(23/01/2007)

Sun 28th Jan, 2007 in Gig Reviews

‘Twas a mild Tuesday eve and the whimsical folks of old Melbourne town ambled into the Corner Hotel in search of a gentle soundtrack. With both Jen Cloher and Laura Veirs taking to the stage, many a punter could be heard to gush ‘that’s beautiful’ or ‘that’s gorgeous’ after another sweet serenade.



Unsurprisingly, for a bill boasting two such talented female singer songwriters the audience was overwhelmingly female, with the occasional skinny boy and obedient boyfriend making up the remainder.

After the opening support act scurried off stage with barely a word, Jen Cloher took to the stage. Propping and shifting awkwardly upon her stool, she claimed that someone must have changed the stool since the sound check, but there was nothing awkward about the sound of voice nudging against the backing of violin and resonator guitar. A cover of Springsteen’s classic ‘State Trooper’ was suitably paranoid and menacing – ‘when a girl sings this it sounds like she’s a stalker’ Cloher explained. With a slight country darkness, her songs are best heard as a broken heart cure to be taken with a good dose of wallowing. Perhaps someone should arrange a duet album of ‘late night on a lonesome porch’ tunes with Tex Perkins; they could be our very own Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, or Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell.

Veirs’ last album, Year of Meteors, was a glorious blend of Cat Power’s You Are Free and the troubadour pop of Josh Rouse. Touring with long time collaborator/producer/drummer Tucker Martine, Veirs was in giddy spirits, gushing with happiness as she thanked the largish midweek audience.

A recent trip to Healesville Sanctuary prompted Veirs to list every animal she’d seen, sounding like a child after her first trip to the zoo. Though her stage presence suggests that if Romper Room was to return with an indie bent, then Veirs would make the perfect host. Why not? Kids’ TV and indie whimsy has a precedent after Steve from Blues Clues album with the Flaming Lips. With a tour to China in the planning Veirs pushed her ‘whimsical host of a children’s TV show’ even further by treating us to a snippet of a Chinese children’s song.

Despite Veirs genuine shock at the size of the turn out it wasn’t packed to the bursting level she deserves. This was partially due mid summer panic as music fans seek to balance their gig going with their rapidly failing cash flow; partially due to Veir’s low profile. With so many gigs on it was understandable that the place wasn’t brimming with winsome indie folk – and it was a Tuesday – but hopefully the new album, Saltbreakers, will do something to address that low profile issue.

Judging from the few new tracks she played from Saltbreakers it may be a more amplified affair than Year of Meteors. But it’s hard to really know when the songs are played by just a guitar and drum set-up. Perhaps touring as a duo just puts more emphasis on the drumming as Martine’s percussion fills the space with a greater presence than on the albums. Veirs also accommodates for the limited set-up by recording and looping her guitar parts, whistling and harmonies, building the layers of the song towards soaring heights. Yet even this can’t produce the glory of Year of Meteors highlight ‘Galaxies’ on stage as Veirs has to refuse the evenings one shouted request – ‘we need the band for that, but we’ll come back soon’.

Aside from a stray off key audience harmoniser (why do people do this?), and that stray request, this was a staggeringly hushed, respectful crowd. It took a while to recognise that this crowd wasn’t straying, they were just so damn polite. The audience reaction to Cloher’s ‘Adelaide’ was about as raucous as a Tuesday night in, well, Adelaide. But while they may not have been raucous in their love it’s safe to say that most folks went home whistling a little tune, eagerly anticipating the return of Veirs and band.