As Big Day Out and its many official sideshows wrapped up in Sydney (there are still a few more special appearances to be made… such as Das Racist at the Rdio launch on Saturday), it’s now time to officially welcome the sideshows of the 2012 Laneway Festival, with Active Child ringing in the period with a spellbinding show at the Oxford Art Factory on Sunday night.
Kicking things off in an impressive triple header was local up-and-comer Oliver Tank (pictured below), who earlier this month impressed at the SMAC awards and was a hit of Peats Ridge Festival – among others. It’s a solo affair when Mr. Tank performs, but it’s far from a simple one.
Oliver jumps between his guitar, digital drums, laptop loops and more to create an atmospheric, often ambient tone – an apt support for Active Child to say the least. Being reasonably unfamiliar with his music, it’s hard for me to say what I heard, though my ears piqued up at the lyrics “…she was crying inside your stomach”, which leads me to think he either briefly quoted “I Feel a Hot One” by Manchester Orchestra (one of the most beautiful tracks ever penned in my opinion), or was performing an homage. It was a bit difficult to tell, as it can often be in this sort of music – especially when you’re unfamiliar. But either way it was a special moment in a set that was hypnotising in all it’s layered splendour. He still has a way to go before he perfects his live show – but he’s certainly on the right track and I was quite impressed with what I saw tonight.
The always phenomenal Caitlin Park was next, but due to some timetable confusion I pretty much missed her entire set. The little I saw though was brilliant. I highly recommend listening to her debut full length Milk Annual, one of my favourite LPs of 2011 – and hopefully I’ll get to see the lovely lady sometime soon in full!
As the venue filled to capacity, Active Child hit the stage earlier than his allotted start time, for his first ever headline show in Australia. Though quite familiar with his phenomenal record You Are All I See, I really didn’t know what to expect when it came to his live show. This is pretty hopeless of me though: I interviewed the guy and he told what to expect. But nonetheless, I still walked into the room anticipating a solo artist, jumping between some digital stuff, a synth and maaaybe the harp, if we were lucky.
But not only did he have the harp, he had a two person backing band, taking on the drums (half digital, half real – snares and what not) and the guitar. As the show began, Pat Grossi (the real name of Sir Child) looked angelic on the harp – yet still manly, as my friend on the night would expect me to point out – dressed all in white, launching into “I’m In Your Church At Night”, followed by his hit single “Hanging On”. With the song played before he was even supposed to hit the stage, here’s hoping no one missed the beautiful performance.
With a crowd favourite already out of the way, it immediately occurred to me just how impressively the record is recreated live. It would be all too easy to jump down the digital route aforementioned. But it did it ample justice in the manner presented. So, if you were a fan of the record, you’d be a fan of the live show. Though I love the record, I do find it a bit “samey” after a while, and by the end of the concert I daresay I had reached a similar point. There’s only so much a harp and a synth can do aurally. Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with it, and it is continually beautiful, you just have to wonder where it’ll go from here.
The set that remained included “Playing House”, which saw Pat move to the keys for the first time, the more upbeat “When Your Love Is Safe” (one of my favourites), “Take Shelter” from his earlier EP, “Way Too Fast” – which saw the guitarist also take to the keys and was my favourite song of the night, while the main set closed with “Johnny Belinda”, which saw Pat return to the harp.
With the obligatory encore, the night ended with an impressive instrumental number that highlighted the musical talents on display. For now, with one album under their belts, they’ve certainly got more than enough to impress (and impress they did this evening), but moving forward they’re going to have to pull out a bit more. And I can’t wait to see just what that may entail.
