Monday, 22 November 2010
Pieta Brown and Bo Ramsey w/ support Lucie Thorne and Hamish Stuart
The Basement, 9pm
What is the etiquette for a gig review that rates the support more than the headliner?
As Mark Twain proclaimed: “Etiquette requires us to admire the human race”. So I will do just that: politely ignore Pieta Brown and Bo Ramsey and sing the praises of Lucie Thorne and Hamish Stuart as they deserve much admiration.
I waited in the bar area of The Basement, sipping tea and reading my Drawings from the Gulag book [bit o' light reading, y'know] as I waited an hour for movement on the stage. Who said the gig started at 8pm? I sure as hell wasn’t there to soak up the ambience of a bartender dismissing my request for tea [I didn't think my usual vodka and soda would have been the best accompaniment to my Gulag book – culturally, yes, mentally, no].
Ah movement! A make-up free, gap-toothed woman dressed in a simple washed-out black tunic set up the stage with instruments and cords. This is how little I knew of the support. This was Lucie Thorne, setting up her own sound check. My companion thought she was a waitress and tried to flag her down for another cup of tea [we soured on that bartender who was effectively dead to us now]. And I am sure she would have obliged – her bare set of a cherry-red guitar and a jean-clad man behind a 5 piece drum kit absolutely whispered polite, humble folk singer.
Rose among the thorns
But, boy, can she sing! Her innocent songs of “rambling roses” [her Aussie twang apparent on "o" sounds in "rose" and "words"] and “pretty, friendly small towns in my imagination” mesmerised the quickly multiplying audience members. And this is exactly where her songs took me in my imagination: a tranquil meadow filled with just a quaint cottage where Thorne’s husky vocals trickled down a rustic chimney and breathed smoky life over Hamish Stuart‘s matching red kit.
I especially liked how Stuart’s drumming took centre stage, highlighted by his jazz drum brushing technique and spotlighted by his add-on of “bdum-ching” to his cheesy joke about “knowing the lighting guy”. I appreciated it. Why else did I buy a drum kit if not to indulge in my own support of my own stupid jokes? It’s refreshing to see a duo of guitar and drums that doesn’t have the minimalist beat of The White Stripes. Stuart’s innovative drum fills were amazing, and were more united than dichotomous in Thorne’s simple folk songs. My companion thought Thorne’s unusual guitar poise looked like she was dancing with it – it was less an extension of her as it was an offering to the audience on the silver melody of her voice.
Thorne had a good rapport with the audience, she warmed them up pretty good and stood one down even better with her dry comeback: “My dad’s in Launceston, is that what you’re asking?” She regaled with Transylvanian tour stories and a shared set with teenage punk rockers ["Good lord, I have to go on next!"]. I wish she could have stayed on next and after. Lucie left the stage with us wanting more and reaching for our wallets to buy her CD.
Cherry-red duo
Jet-lagged cowboys
Close to the end of her set, Thorne introduced/made excuses for Pieta Brown and Bo Ramsey who had only been in the country [for the first time] for 24 hours. This was an amazing feat but their set was just as jet-lagged. Bo Ramsey looked like he was about to fall asleep, but it was later discovered about 5 songs in he was just confused about his monitor’s sound-check problems and, thankfully, not dead.
The crowd didn’t mind though. The Basement’s floor filled up quickly. The audience was quite….mature. The music was quite…country. If the twangs of the guitars didn’t give it away nor the dude in the cowboy hat called “Bo”, Pieta’s drawl of “y’all” and “kee-tar!” certainly did.
You couldn’t keep your eyes off Pieta, despite her almost vacant, disconnected presence. She is stunning; a brunette sibling of Hilary Duff. Though surprisingly I don’t find Hayley Duff attractive. [I guess it's like Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal – there was only one load of brilliance in that gene-pool.] And while Pieta’s music style is not something that fits me well, she has a sweet lilt that was pleasing to my ear drums. The Basement Blurb called her vocals “haunting”. I disagree. My actual worst nightmare is being stuck in a room full of live country music which which I can’t connect – and I still didn’t find it haunting.
Pieta woke up about 6 songs in and spoke at length to the audience about her family musical ties with banjos, intelligent musings on the time zones “yesterday is today”, and her song writing “I wrote that when y’all could smoke in bars” which was answered with “boo’s” and “hoorays”.
It was an enjoyable gig, but I think Lucie Thorne and Hamish Stuart really stole the show. And ran away with it. Far, far away where Pieta and Bo couldn’t chase them [that's okay, they were napping, they didn't know a game was being played]. To her credit, Pieta eventually proved why she is the heralded in the US music charts. And Bo Ramsey. Well, my mother taught me not to say anything negative about people.
…
He had a pretty guitar.
[Photo courtesy of Belinda Kung.]
