w/ Lights, Snakadaktal
When I heard that I was heading off to The Jezabels I was a little beside myself with excitement. The last time I heard the band play was over a year and a half ago to an almost
sold out Zoo. My, oh my have they come a long way since then. I’ve been
following their career closely, missing their gigs at the Tivoli over
that period, and dying to relive my first live experience. So, in a
nutshell, to say I was beside myself with eager anticipation would be
the understatement of the century.
Opening the night at the Brisbane Convention Centre was the youthful Snakadaktal.
I won’t lie, I was slightly afraid for the youngsters. The Convention
Centre is not the easiest room to play, especially when it is less than
half full. I shouldn’t have been worried. The band has a maturity way
beyond their years. I don’t really know what I was expecting. But it
wasn’t this. The only clue to tell you they have only been doing this a
very short time is when they speak to thank their audience and their
fellow bands.
“Air” was definitely the stand out of the set. It, along with
“Chimera”, showed off the vocal talent of Miss Phoebe, as well as Sean. I
do believe thought, it is Phoebe whose vocals shine throughout the set.
They are simplistic and unforced, which is refreshing to hear. The
electric drum sounds combined with live drum sounds is nicely balanced,
but the overall the sound was not altogether uniform. One song the bass
would be shaking the room, the next it was more blended in the texture.
Both are fine, but I believe it needs to be consistent. Their final
song, and new single “Dance Bear” has a completely different vibe to the
rest of their songs, and I’m not completely sold on it. However, I am
more than happy to have my mind changed.
Next up was Lights. Here’s a couple of fun facts for you.
Lights is a young lady from Toronto, Canada. She plays Electro-pop kind
of music. I’d never heard of her and I despise myself for this. Here
why. She was freaking fantastic! I am not normally one that loves heavy
electro sounding music, but I found myself completely enchanted by the
set because it had subtle elements of that indie-pop goodness that I
love. There were three synth stations and a drum kit set up on stage,
with Lights herself positioned in the middle of two parallel keyboards.
The title track of her latest release “Siberia” was quite stellar, as
was the song that she introduced as “what was left of as reoccurring
dream.” But it was her opener, “Banner” that hooked me right away.
Lights’ vocals are something to be admired, she is such a charismatic
performer with a voice that cut over the heavy drops that occur
underneath. Look her up if you are as ignorant as me, it's well worth
your while.
Onto The Jezabels. First off, something has to be said about
Hayley Mary and her vocals. She is one of the most incredible singers in
Australian music at present. Big call, I know, but there it is. She has
such a deep and powerful low register that is so much lower than most
females can comfortably sing, while at the same time conquering her
higher register, which most singer use sparingly out of fear. It’s
something so special. She still dances the way she has always done. With
the bended knees, and arm waving sideways in the air. I love it.
Brilliant.
Like I said previously, this little band from Sydney has come a long
way since gigs at the Zoo sized venues. The production of the show and
the stage set up were something you would see from bands of a much
higher caliber, but it was so good to see them stepping up in order to
be that next big thing. The set was really well put together. I still
wholeheartedly believe that the material that came off the set of three
EPs, as a whole, is leaps and bounds better than their new material on Prisoner.
This is just my personal opinion. Because of this, they lost me in the
middle, when they played “Nobody Nowhere”, “Horsehead” and “Long
Highway” in a row, but brought it home with “Try Colour” and songs from
their EPs. I think it is just that they are more memorable, and not over
cluttered. I will say thought, that “Deep Blue Ocean” is an amazing
song, and I was glad to hear it included in the set. They finished with
“Dark Storm” before encoring with “Peace of Mind” segueing into “Hurt
Me”. That combination is a winner. Just saying.
All in all, a sensational gig, full of unexpected surprises. The good
kind. I am truly happy that The Jezabels have stepped it up. They have
always been good, but this just shows, that if a band keeps on working
hard and producing good music, they can keep the journey going, and
going, and going… and going.
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