Bring on the product placement! Yes, the Ben Sherman sponsored event Big British Sound is back for a second year, giving us another healthy dose of local artists playing their own tracks, and a cover or two from their British idols. It’s an interesting premise, and more interesting still was that no one chose The Beatles! For a second year! But this said, there were some pretty fantastic tracks in their steed.
Unfortunately I missed Deep Sea Arcade, one of my favourite local acts, but made it just in time to catch another local favourite: Fergus Brown. Funnily enough, this was the first time I’d properly caught the Sydney native, and was thoroughly impressed with his performance, and on stage bravado. His backing band was impressive to boot. They ended their set with the ever popular “Hot Kisses, Cold Tiles”, seeing the crowd get their dance on.
But it was six-piece Jonathan Boulet who easily stole the show, both with their own material and a hair-raising cover of “Dirty Harry” by Gorillaz. I think it should become a permanent fixture in their set! It was brilliant. They even brought out hip-hop artist “Miracle the Boy Wonder” to guest on the track! If they can throw together such an impressive cover of a song like this, there’s no telling what these guys are capable of. Moving back to their own material, they opened with “I will soldier on”, which featured 3 drummers and 3 guitarists – as do many of the live tracks. It was an instant highlight, with “Tell Me More” and the intoxicating “Community Service Announcement” also standouts. The latter of course closed out the set, and kept everyone singing and dancing along well after they left the stage.
Whitley performed solo and acoustic to a crowd that was probably louder than he was. As he put it, this was the “emotional” part of the evening. Something that probably should have come earlier rather than later in the context of the event, but it was a beautiful set all the same. For his cover, Whitely chose “Blue Monday” by New Order – and pulled it off brilliantly. Finishing his set a bit earlier than expected, the next three quarters of an hour or so saw DJs taking the reigns, and they were pulling out some crowd pleasers… but essentially, we were all patiently awaiting the headliner of the evening.
Ending the night in style was Bertie Blackman, who launched onto the stage with some killer bass blasting out behind her. I was immediately surprised at just how loud and powerful her set was – she’s a true talent on record, and this is no different on stage. Like Whitley, she had played the Melbourne event the night before, so one could have forgiven her for appearing lethargic – but this was not the case at all. She was as energetic as you get, and ready to party, focusing on songs off her debut album Secrets And Lies, with “Heart” in particular going off like a treat.
All in all, tonight was a pretty fantastic, well organised evening of some truly talented local artists. I’m loving how clothing labels are putting on music events these days (noting General Pants’ Major Label as another recent example)… it’s helping breath some much needed life (and money) back into the live music scene!
