Dave McCormack & thePolaroids, Little Lovers @Ric's Bar, Brisbane,19/07/2007

Thu 26th Jul, 2007 in Gig Reviews

The first night of Ric’s ‘Down in the Valley’, a series of gigs jam-packed with some of the best Brisbane has to offer, is kicking off. One of the smaller lineups of the 4 days (2 bands instead of the 3 or 4 of the following nights), tonight delivers in a ‘quality over quantity’ way.

The front room fills up, and the scruffy boys of the Little Lovers take the stage. The Brisbane 3 piece play their way through a catchy set, with smatterings of commentary about everything from their technical problems, to their opinions of the performance (“Well that was almost without fault”). Pop-ish, yet unpretentious, the Little Lovers recreate the relaxed mood of their recordings. While they don’t bound around the stage with lunatic smiles like many of their Bris-pop counterparts, the infectious (yet subtle) head-bopping of both themselves and the crowd makes it clear that they are indeed Havin’ a Party. They grin boyishly as they say goodnight, leaving behind them a solid set, and making way for Dave McCormack & The Polaroids.

Dave McCormack is, to use the most popular phrase from the night, “the guy from Custard”. But this seemingly limiting tag does not taint his performance with The Polaroids. With charismatic energy, he takes to the stage, and, living up to the self moniker of ‘a value for money band’, leads the Polaroids into an encore breakdown during the opening song. The lively bunch go on to bring the house down with every tune. Their mix of dynamic bass lines and creative synth sounds feature across a wide range of material, from classic Custard tracks through to the country inspired wailings of This Kind of Music.

Technically, the band is near faultless, with McCormack navigating the sometimes rambling vocal lines with ease and an inimitable sense of cool. The rest of the lineup was equally commendable. Shane Melder is somewhat stoic, yet enthusiastic on drums, Dylan McCormack handling the catchy bass lines and Cameron Bruce, an improvisational powerhouse (who was amusing himself by occasionally directing his playing out the glass doors, to the diners seated outside), round out the group.

The large crowd welcomed everything the Polaroids had to offer, raising a cheer at the start of each and every song. If that wasn’t confirmation enough, the enthused chatter at the end was an indication of the quality of set. The night was throughly enjoyable, and a timely reminder of the talent and innovation that Brisbane produces.