Last night saw the Triple Rainbow Tour hit Sydney, taking over Purple Sneakers’ Last Night at the Gaelic Club. The tour brings together three bands who scored Big Day Out spots in their hometowns back in January: Sydney’s We Say Bamboulee, Melbourne’s Eagle and the Worm and Brisbane’s Ball Park Music.
First up were Ball Park Music, one of several Brisbane bands who have been knocking out a pile of pop rock anthems in recent months. Between “Sad Rude Future Dude” and “iFly” (I Fucking Love You), they’re hitting the mark both on record and live. You can’t help but tap your feet and sing along in either setting – though in my humble opinion, it’s live that they truly shine.
Eagle and the Worm followed, a band whose on stage numbers give Arcade Fire a run for their money. Singles “Futureman”, “All I Know” and “Goodtimes” have been making their mark, and all got a play tonight. Led by Jarrad Brown (Custom Kings and Your Animal), they’re a truly talented ensemble, with some sexy saxophone and plenty of love given to artists such as the Beach Boys (both expressed vocally and in the music itself). With so many members on the stage (I counted eight…), it would be easy for the sound to become muddled and messy throughout a set – but they definitely have the balance down pat – it sounded great.
Closing out the night were Sydney’s own We Say Bamboulee, who, over the course of the last year, have fast become one of my favourite local bands. Made up of brothers Peter and Russell Fitzgibbon, as well as Doug Wright (brother of Alister from Cloud Control), there is a whole heap of talent in this three piece. Russell and Doug are simultaneously conquering the electronic scene in Fishing, and this aspect does bleed into We Say (or is it the other way around?). Plenty of Synth, lots of catchy pop music – and even some trumpets to boot (Doug and one of the members of Eagle and the Worm donning trumpets in the final track) – there is nothing not to love about this group. “Solid Gold” was a highlight of the impressive set. DOWNLOAD IT NOW!.
Of course, the Triple Rainbow Tour is travelling around the country, and in this instance was just one portion of another fantastic evening of Last Night. It’s the Purple Sneakers you remember from the Abercrombie Hotel days – just all grown up. If you’ve been avoiding Purple Sneakers in recent years, now might be the time to return… the nights are just too much fun, with music too brilliant to boot.
