Last night, thanks to these wonderful things called school holidays, I had the rare pleasure of going to a mid-week gig at the Northcote Social Club, the place where trendsters, bogans and everyday guys and gals get together and have a party. Or at least they did last night. And it was beautiful.
The occasion was the first night of Old Man River's Aussie tour. You'll probably know his single. It's the "la la" one. You'd recognise it if you heard it. Anyway - I went along with a group, one friend being a big OMR fan and quite eager to see him. I'd heard the "la la" song (it's actually called "La!") and thought it was pretty good, so I was happy enough to pay $15 to hang out in Northcote, which everyone knows is the new cool place in Melbourne, until that title is finally, rightfully bestowed upon West Preston.
I didn't anticipate what an amazingly awesome night I would get for those mere $15. Let me tell you about just a few things about the night that were particularly awesome.
1. The support act: The Hampdens. I thought I'd heard of them, but I might have just been thinking of the mountain range. I doubt many people had heard of them, but few could go away from the night not recognising what incredible performers they are, even at this early stage in their careers. There were moments when I felt as if seeing them now is a little like it would have been to see the Cocteau Twins in Scotland back in the early 80s. The lead vocalist has the same eerie beauty of a young Elizabeth Frazer, or maybe Beth Gibbons, and the charming, gangly awkwardness of Beth Orton in her early days. You know she could sing beautifully if she wanted to, and at times she does, but most of the time she'd rather be creative and unique, which she does very well. It's impossible to pin-point what her voice sounds like, but you know that it's the last sound you would have expected to hear coming from her mouth when you first saw her. It's a voice that fills your head with comparisons, but none of them quite cut it. It has the same originality that people probably associated with Siouxsie Sioux when she arrived on the scene, or maybe the way I felt about Björk when I first heard her. It soars between deep and frightening, and high and graceful; and all through these changes it's utterly original and compelling.
And, then there was that moment when Jules, the keyboardist, stepped out the front and sang harmonies with the bassist, and you felt that somehow, more than anything you'd heard in a while, this was Music. It was filled with love, originality and amazing skill. I'd tell you to check out thehampdens.com, watch the "Generation Y" video and download the free remix - and indeed I do tell you to do that - but I am also aware that, if you weren't there last night, you probably won't get it fully. Sorry to say it. And if it annoys you that I'm excluding you, let that annoyance compel you to go see them next time they come to your home town - or buy the album when it comes out early next year
2. The second awesome thing about last night? Well, Old Man River, of course, who proved to be so much more than his Jewfro or la-las combined. Indeed, "La!" was the absolute last song they played, after the encore, and, when it came, it was magical. It followed a minimalist version of Rhianna's "Umbrella", performed by the frontman and his stunning keyboardist/backing vocalist, and involved much singing along from the audience, who didn't find the chorus all that hard to remember. But the most awesome part? Hard to say. It might have been the fact that OMR himself (sadly I don't know his name) was happy to banter with the audience, played the beginning of "Stairway to Heaven" when it was asked of him, shared Paw Paw ointment with one very excited girl in the audience and was just generally a damn good sport. Or was it the fact that he got the Hampdens up on stage to sing "La!" with him at the end? Or was it the point where he got a girl who was celebrating her birthday up on the stage, along with her boyfriend, to sing "La!" with him and the Hampdens? Yes, it could very well have been any of those points. Or it might have been - yes, it probably was - the point at the end of "La!" when he asked us all, on the count of four, to start making crazy animal noises along with him. It was a beautiful moment of Northcote nuttiness that none of us will forget. It united us all in the experience of hearing real, and, in the truest sense, live music. At the end of the gig, strangers chatted to each other, and to the band members, and it really did feel, not like an ultra-cool live music venue, but like a social club.
And that was just the first night of their tour.
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