GiggySound

Mount Lawley
3rd February, 2015

By Nicola Heyes

WHEN you leave a gig with a beaming smile and feel all ‘jingly jangly’ inside, that’s got to be good! I think a warm ‘jingly jangly’ happy feeling certainly sums up Belle and Sebastian’s performance at Mount Lawley’s Astor Theatre on a stormy and rather humid evening.

The Scottish band was bursting with indie pop energy, catchy well-known tunes and just a magnificent ensemble – they seemed so incredibly content to be on stage.

Melbourne indie foursome, Twerps, were the admirable support band, who were similarly jangle-meisters. The Twerps provided an Australian pop timelessness that harked back to the Go-Betweens, Paul Kelly and the Sunnyboys. They were the perfect prelude to the gig.

Belle and Sebastian’s charismatic front man Stuart Murdoch never stopped moving or bopping about on the stage all night.

The show was packed with fabulous nostalgic tunes from the band’s extensive catalogue such as Funny Little Frog, A Century of Fakers and The Boy with the Arab Strap, mixed with a few new songs from their highly anticipated ninth studio album, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance – also crammed with their signature sentimental harmonies.

Murdoch happily joked along with the packed audience, and said: “I’m trying to ignore the Scottish accents” – commenting on the fact that although Perth is one of the world’s most isolated countries, there are so many people from Scotland living here.

The crowd certainly got well into the spirit of the show after being invited on-stage to dance during ‘Simple Things’ – everyone, including the band, danced with fantastic, energetic enthusiasm.

A great, happy, feel-good show!

Noodle Palace@ Central, Perth Fringe Festival

By Nicola Heyes.

If you ever wanted to re-live the 80s, then this would have been the gig for you! For myself, the 80s is a prominent feature in my music collection – and yes, I still have the vinyl records to prove it, so I was quite in my element at Sunglasses at Night. By the looks of the audience, so was everyone else.
There was a 98% show of hands when host / singer Geraldine Quinn (Rockwiz, Spicks and Specks and Upper Middle Class Bogan) asked the question about how many people were born in the 80s or before, so she was happily singing synth pop to many aficionados. Complete with 80s glamour in a sequinned dress sporting shoulder pads, Quinn certainly knew how to strike a pose with her flawless 80s style dance moves.
The 80s wasn’t about fun, it was Cold War, Chernobyl and fear – as described on the promotional flyers for the event. But there was certainly a lot of engrossing fun at the Perth Fringe cabaret – with plenty of audience participation – singing along to Kate Bush, Spandau Ballet, The Human League and Pat Benatar. Lyrics were on a big screen for all to see, with hilarious word play on some songs. Co-host de Grussa was the great synth- player side kick.
The highlight of the evening was Quinn handing out red balloons for the audience to blow up, for – you may have guessed it – 99 Red Balloons by Nena.
Belting out the anti war protest song in its original German version, Quinn was brilliant and the atmosphere was superb.
Another highlight of the cabaret performance was Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, another cracking tune from the 80s. This power ballard was delivered with pretentious passion and moody dancing – and the Welsh singer Bonnie did take a bit of rap from Quinn with her repetitive chorus and drawn out mourningful lyrics.
A great crash course in a great era, a fantastic performance and good Friday night fun.
Oh Vienna.
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