Walking down Ann Street and seeing all the unlucky punters who didn’t make it into the Denim Venim (aka Powderfinger) show at The Zoo, I pondered the whole rock revivalist movement that seems to be so popular in music at the moment (insert Jet, Wolfmother, Airbourne here). It didn’t take too long for me to forget all about Denim Venim, however, as I completely fell in love with the sixties-revivalists from Melbourne, The Basics, who were playing at The Troubadour as part of their current residency.
Supporting them tonight are 3-piece Brisbane power-grrrl band, Hot Liquid Sex. It’s bassist, Natalie’s last gig tonight, yet the stage isn’t awash with tears of emotive nostalgia, or even hugs. Indeed, it’s almost like the band heaves a collective sigh of relief at the end of the set. It’s now time to search for a new bass player and keep moving, because as everyone knows, a band, like sharks, only dies if they stop moving.
The Basics come onstage in Beatlesque matching grey suits, to an enthusiastic greeting of punters who have started to make it a regular Wednesday habit to watch them play at The Troubadour. Wally de Backer, perhaps best-known for his work as Gotye, starts laying down a metronomic backbeat on the drums, and is quickly joined by bandmates, Tim Heath on guitar, Kris Schroeder on bass, and their “Ghost Member”, Dave Bramble on keyboards. What follows is an hour-long set of exciting, catchy sixties-infused blues-pop, with more than a passing likeness to similarly-suited bands, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Easybeats, with splashes of reggae, pub rock and psychedelic acid-rambling to mix it up.
Wally, Tim and Kris share around the vocal duties over the evening, with plenty of lush three-part harmony for seasoning. A few sneaky covers are thrown into the mix, including a very frenetic version of NKOTB hit, The Right Suff . All of a sudden the night has come to its conclusion, we are implored to return next Wednesday for the final show in their residency. One thing is for sure, I will be telling all my friends to get along to the Troubadour next week, regardless of which mega-Brisband is playing a secret show down the road.
