Gigs of GIGS pt 1.

Gotta love kicking off 2011 with lots of gigs. Here's a few of my hasty impressions from a few gigs I went to the past few days (part 1)

Thursday, 6th Jan - Hipstones (pictured above) supported by ORLY and Joanna and The Dusty Floor at the Basement in Circular Quay.

What an amazing show! The main and support acts were extremely polished - we're very lucky to have such talented artists and musicians in Australia. I had a few free tickets so I took along a few music-loving friends... needless to say they dug it immensely!

Joanna and The Dusty Floor were, at least in terms of music, quite an interesting mix of genres and styles. I could pick out bits of spy-soundtrack rock n' roll, a bit of shoe-gazey love song and some slightly spooky soul. While the band looked and sounded great, I felt that Joanna lacked confidence in her performance - which is a real shame considering how lovely and operatic her voice was. However, the backing band were pretty gnarly and obviously well rehearsed. I would definitely love to see them again!

http://www.myspace.com/johannaandthedustyfloor

ORLY followed up next and I was bobbing my head furiously to her set. While a lot of it was fairly straight forward neo-soul with a summery kind of vibe, her lyrics seem to come from a really honest place and she definitely has a strong voice. The band was excellent, providing taut, yet-laid-back grooves and, when needed, slinky and sultry backing for her "baby-making-soul" number "Sit Back" ). But suffice to say, I really enjoyed it. I've always loved that kind of music and there were some really choice beats that were getting the dance floor going! I had to rush, but I'll make sure next time I'm picking up that EP. There were some great originals in that set.

http://www.myspace.com/orlymusic

Alright! Now for the piece de resistance... The Hipstones.

What can I say? Ever since I was given their first album "Something's Gotta Start", the Australian (now living in New York) singer/musician/songwriter couple, Mark Palmer and Anthea White, blew away the audience at the basement. The full band, complete with horns, delivered a supersweet, super-tight, high octane set of jazzy, soulful numbers that showcased Anthea White's AMAZING vocal. I'm not exaggerating when I say AMAZING. It's like... kind of husky, but quite high, but it's also very soulful - it's kind of hard to describe since it's quite unique - you have to check it out. Mark also has an amazing voice (such range! I can't even think that high, let alone sing those notes!) - think Stevie Wonder with a lot of Smokey Robinson thrown in for good measure. Furthermore, they harmonise beautifully - creating a bed of really luscious, emotive harmonies to support each other.

It was amazing. People were dancing, there were some really gutsy and powerful solos from the horn sections and the music hit that sweet spot where it's simple and groovy enough to dance to, but there's these really touching moments in the songwriting and a really nice honesty that shines through.

You can tell the songs mean a lot to Mark and Anthea, and the band - you can really feel the love. Plus it helps that they're both extraordinarily charismatic and nice. here's a video from a gig they did in March 2010. You can also hit up their website for full mp3 streams of their albums. (Gotta love try before you buy!) I wish they were still based in Sydney so I can watch them all the time... but I wish them all the best in the big apple!


The Hipstones - Dreamers from Raymond Toms on Vimeo.

Anyways this is but PART 1 of my GIG round up.

Coming up next:

CHROMEO AND N.E.R.D AT THE HORDEN PAVILLION ON THE 7TH.

THE SYDNEY FESTIVAL - *GASP* ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT AND *GASP* CHARLIE WILSON AND THE DYNAMITES!

THE BIG DAY OUT 2011- 27th of Janurary.

Yep I'm ALL CAPPS kind of excited. Double-P.

Over-and-out. Colin.