Early Work - The Evelyn (25/6/2009)

Really hard to write about this, as it was a work colleague. So perhaps I'll lay down the facts, and you can do the review yourself. There is a myspace page here.

3/4 piece band.

Grungy pop.

Songs about dead cats and girls with long hair.

2nd gig ever.

The songs live sound a bunch louder and dirtier than on the myspaz.

The Evelyn, as always, had weird sound and it all seems really cliquey. I always feel like I'm interupting some sort of club. Don't like it very much. We only stayed for the one band, then got some pizza. yum yum. Apparently the next band we missed were a concept group about a bunch of Cannabilstic Antarctic explorers. Fun! Also, the headlining band - Your Animal - have a nice cover of Cryin' on their space. Listen and enjoy. No club silencio though.

The Evelyn (16/1/2009)

By Jimmy

I was always told if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So this is going to be a very short write up.

Nadine Sachinidis is a talented singer. She sings Jazzy songs with her delay pedal crazy guitar friend. It's nice enough. Perhaps not right for a Friday night.

I'm not sure what the deal was... somehow a whole lot of talented musicians managed to get together and make the most boring uninspired music I've ever heard. This applies to both the second and third bands of the night, The Word and ME (Hardest bands to find on Myspace). 

If they were ice-cream, they'd be vanilla.

If they were pizza, they'd be margarita. 

If they were Bill Murray movies, they'd be Larger than Life.

If they were potato chips, they'd be original.

If they were on the McDonalds menu, they'd be a junior burger (with the pickles removed)

If they were facial features, they'd be the cheek.

You get the idea. Other people didn't. For some reason the bizaar crowd loved every second, which leads me to believe they were involved with some sort of cult.

So I cracked the shits and left. 

The Evelyn (15/1/2009)

Went to the Evelyn last night without my good friend Jimmy to see The Good China and was pleasantly surprised.

The Evelyn
Great place, however contrary to what I previously said about this place there is a massive column the width of a very fat man right smack in the middle of the place and due to the place being a bit more full than usual, last night I was stuck partially behind it. Also the levels were a bit off (ear popping guitar - inaudible violin). That said - great place, still love it to bits!

The Good China
I've seen these guys and girls (7 on stage) before and I didn't really go for the pretentious instrument swapping after every song, but last night these guys rocked the place. They have a very catchy boppy sound that their myspace page describes as "Indie / Pop / Chinese pop" and which I am failing to describe so listen to them for yourself here. They were first on the bill and managed to retain the largest crowd that we saw all the night. They manage to utilise their massive array of instruments (and musicians) without over-doing it and still allowing for some brilliant solo work (awesome violinist - was a pity it couldn't be heard).

Summer Cats
Next up were Summer Cats. They're an Indie band from Melbourne, played many short songs (average of 3 minutes a piece) which would be refreshing but they didn't really do anything for us. Much of the performance quality was obscured by the ego emanating from the lead singer who appeared to love the sound of his own voice and persisted on using it at every possible opportunity.

Seagull
These guys were my highlight of the night. They sounded like a tightened up and inverted version of Godspeed you black emperor (I think that needs explanation), in that their sound had the same feeling only they mostly started and finished at a climactic points with a slowed down part in the middle and their songs were only about 12 minutes each. On a side note the vocalist sounded a lot like Thom York (Radiohead) and it made for a great formula which I would want to see again with better mixing (too much guitar!).
Just in case Seagull are reading this, I'm sorry again for trying to give the bass player my empty beer glass, you approached a nearby table wearing a black T-shirt and pointing to an almost empty beer glass and I thought you were the bar staff.

Fearless Vampire Killers (8/01/2009)

By Pat

I think Jim's account of what went down at the Metro (it's not and never will be the palace!) says everything I wanted to, so I will soldier on and give you the low down on last night at the Evelyn.

Summary:
Thoroughly enjoyed The Fearless Vampire Killers (FVK) uninhibited set, consumed 2 x $2.50 pots and 1 pint of local draught.
Highlights: A particularly Awesome moment during a song in the FVK set where after a fantastic period of psychedelic rocking and soloing the band returned to a very familiar sounding hook-like rif that had featured earlier in the song and really brought it home.
Lowlights: Spun Rivals (if you're reading this, sorry guys read below!)
Final Comments: Good night, great band!

The Evelyn
A good venue with decent acoustics, tap beer (limited) and history (the venue been in operation for over 150 years!). There is always (every time I've been) a cover charge at the door however tonight it was a meager $6. There are usually drinks specials such as $6 Jagerbombs (dangerous!) or $2.50 pots. They have 2 beers on tap - Carlton Draught, Cascade Pale Ale (nice!). They have columns in the middle of the room, that can potentially block view of the stage, however they are slender (head width) and I've never had a problem with them. They have a neat looking grand piano shell for the mixing desk.

The Box Rockets
These guys started off the night with a very promising 'pop' style show. This four piece is driven by a powerful bass player and interestingly skillful, female drummer! Everyone I was with at the gig liked these guys but I didn't. (Sounded like the Smiths with some Stadium style reverb... love it- Jimmy)
At first I thought I read on the bass drum 'the box rockers' and appreciated their daring name with a giddy chuckle but then was disappointed to find out their actual name. Which really summed up their performance for me: promising some fun then revealing that what was there wasn't really that interesting after all. But I expect these guys will grow with time, good luck.

Spun Rivals
Entertaining, energetic, wild, grating rock with extra balls. They scored bonus points with me for the Scottish accents! They did appear to have lost some songwriting in the mix but they put on a great show and had guitar solos, woo! The lead guitarist even jumped off the stage and onto the floor to solo more! Rock!
Everyone I was with disliked this band immensely and I admit, they didn't sound good, but they had excellent accents and were energetic enough to put on a show.

(It's not that I disliked them... What they were trying to do, they did exceptionally well.... it's just that what they were trying to do wasn't that great.... They're a polished turd. But I'd probably see them again. - Jimmy)

The Fearless Vampire Killers
These guys are classy! They play an accessible range of psychedelic rock filled to the brim with power full riffs and prolonged yet pleasurable jams. I felt during this set there were a couple of what Jim and I like to call 'Awesome Moments'. It was great to see them do a headline show, they were uninhibited by any proceeding bands and were free if not invited by the crowd (some tool heckled "Play a F#%$ing song") to play a great and full show.