w/ Zeek Power, Astrid
When I heard that Bec Laughton was playing in celebration of her latest EP release M&R, I knew there would be no way I was going to miss this gig. Can I say right now, this particular gig is in my Top 5 of all time! Here’s why.
The night opened with solo artist Astrid (now without her band the Asteroids) who is a pocket-sized powerhouse. She opened her set with a tune called “Threadbare” a track consisting entirely of vocal loops strung together to create something mesmerising. There were times where her technology or loops failed her but with her hilarious mid song intersections she was able to just go along with it and pay her self out in a way that was so genuinely amusing without ever meaning to be.
What makes Astrid such an incredible artist, however, is her flawless vocal technique. She was able to sing and loop the most beautiful vocal runs in perfect harmony with herself to create the backing for many of her tracks. If you have not heard of this young woman, you need to get her into your ears right now. She is sensational.
To back up this performance was Zeek Power, another solo artist with a similar, yet completely different feel to the previous artist. He has such a mellow voice that complemented the tone colour of his acoustic guitar so very well. The music he performed was so very earnest and sincere. His song “Sunshine” was so incredibly beautiful and really moved me. Not only can this artist sing a darn good tune, he is also an incredible beat boxer and rapper, and some of my favourite moments of the set were these songs. Especially the last tunes of the set. Amazing.
While these two artists are stupidly amazing and talented, and I mean this very, very sincerely, when is come to Bec Laughton, she is just in a league of her own. You know the artists who perform live versions of their songs that just sound exactly like the recorded versions? Yeah, Bec is not one of those artists. She and her stupidly talented band completely reinvented each of the tunes in the set to fill the Black Bear Lodge with funk infused goodness.
Bec herself said that tonight she was going to do some cool things she has always wanted to do, but has never achieved live. She asked her hometown crowd to forgive her for her indulgences. There was nothing to forgive. One was a ballad accompanied only by two bass guitars and is honestly one of the most beautiful things I have ever listed to. The lyrics went something like this “I will love you red head style, like fire”. It also contained a bass guitar solo that was just mind-shattering.
The second was to perform a vocal/choral arrangement of one her songs. For this she invited all the performing artists, including Astrid and Zeek Power along with a few other friends. It was another beautiful moment. The third was to incorporate a dance break from dance group MnB Entertaiment. Holy talented mofos! Wow.
She played songs from all of her three EP releases, as well as some new tracks and also some 90s inspired covers including the themes from Captain Planet, and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. She closed her set by saying, “If you’ve had a tough day, if you’ve had a tough week, if you’ve had a tough existence in life thus far, this one is for you.” She then went on to play her latest single “M&R”. For her encore she played created a song on the spot with the help of the inspirational words “running” and “chicken” from the crowd. It is honestly one of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed. “I want to love and squeeze you and stop running like a chicken, Bwok, bwok.”
There was too much awesomness to appropriately do the gig justice in writing. I’ve been to a lot of gigs in my time, but this (self-proclaimed) small, skinny, red headed, white girl lead one of top 5 gigs I have ever been to. Big call I know, but well deserving. If you can possibly catch her on her remaining tour dates, you should. Cancel your planes, or relocate them so they coincide with the venue. You will not be disappointed.
