Chaingang got the show off to a start with their energetic glam punk. It was a little too obviously indebted to The Gossip (right down to some Beth Ditto trademarked vocal tics) and not especially varied, but some of the audience seemed to enjoy it.
Adding a more electronic flavour to proceedings was Perth’s Tim & Jean. This duo may have only one song released to date (the Triple J Unearthed favourite “Come Around”), but they managed to pull off a full-length set of retro-styled electro. With their expanded line-up (an additional synth-player and a live drummer), they blasted out delightfully irony-free tributes to the last 30 years of dance music.
While sometimes erring a little too much on the side of “sounding just like Passion Pit”, it’s hard to criticise them when they do it so well. In fact, as my wife commented, they’re probably more enjoyable without the ear-scrapingly high vocals of Michael Angelakos. All in all, it was hard not to dance and imagine how far they will go.
The big drawcard was headliners Operator Please, who have turned into a mightily impressive live act in a few short years. Armed with a new album (Gloves) full of radio-ready danceable tunes, they showed a confidence and poise that many older bands lack. If ever they were just a ping pong-loving novelty act, they certainly aren’t any more.
Amandah Wilkinson’s voice was in fine form and her idiosyncratic hand gestures, impossible to quite describe in print, were a highlight. They gave the audience a strong selection from the new album and a souped-up version of their first hit “Just A Song About Ping Pong”. Also on the menu were some more guilty pleasures: a mash-up of Destiny’s Child’s “Lose My Breath” with No Doubt’s “Hella Good” and a cover of Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s “Push It”, featuring the two support acts and half a dozen friends of the band. Both featured Wilkinson and violinist Taylor Henderson’s “ghetto dancing” – brilliant and pretty much in the style of suburban teenagers in their bedrooms.
Based on a show like this, Australian music has a promising future – even if it sounds a lot like the past.
http://www.operatorpleaseband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/operatorplease
Thanks to Dave Pullar for the review and photos by Nicole Pullar Photography (www.nicolepullar.com)
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