Rat vs Possum may be the support for tonight’s Melbourne Festival show at the Toff in Town, but their party-time set doesn’t waste time, even with people who just want to stick to the walls of the venue. Their live shows in more recent times have moved away from their tribal, thunderous vibe to a more party atmosphere. Tonight’s support set was heading through to that direction for sure. It could be argued that the sound was a little too big for the room itself at the forefront as lead vocalist, with squelches and beeps coming from all over the place. It feels like a bit too all over the place at times, but still commanding an interesting coherency from that madness.
It’s a slightly off beginning for New Zealand’s Bachelorette (Annabel Alpers), with the curtains being pulled to reveal a lonesome lady looking a quizzically at her equipment surrounding her and the piercing noises they’re making. After a bit of querying as to what was going on, things were slightly on track, and we heard handful of sunny, loopy tracks from 2009’s My Electric Family. While the stuff Alpers plays off Not Entertainment is a little more Kraftwerk inspired. It makes for some quirky listening.
The final song bids farewell with the lyrics “For the last time goodbye”, but the lulling Sugarbug trundles in as an encore, along with that awkward leaving-the-stage-and-coming-back-on-time-period. When there isn’t such a huge crowd, it seems like forever. It was intriguing music to listen to and it’s a shame that Alpers has decided to call it a day after this album, as the music she is making makes you wonder what step she’ll take on the not-coming next album.
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