Live Review
The John Steel Singers @ The Triffid, 6th November 2015
One of Brisbane's relatively newer musical establishments, The Triffid, with it's ex-aircraft hangar confines and ultra impressive acoustics (it's loud and clear but you can actually hear the person next to you!), is the perfect venue to showcase this evening's headline act, Brisbane's beloved John Steel Singers.
And as the kaleidoscopic dream poppers assume their on-stage positions a sense of palpable excitement hangs in the air, brought about by the realisation that tonight we're being treated to a deluxe ensemble version of the band, the five piece padded out with the addition of female backing vocalists, as well as support act Jonathan Boulet on additional percussion together with his saxophonist, both doubling up tonight from their impressive support slot.
And it's a joyful sense of playfulness and unironic wonderment which inhabits the bodies, souls and music of the ten headed collective representing the John Steel moniker tonight. The band who brought us the Tangalooma and Everything's A Thread records (the former produced by none other than Go Betweens legend Robert Forster) are about to drop album number three, the intriguingly titled Midnight at the Plutonium, which is strongly rumoured to be heading into a smoother, funkier direction, described recently as 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Yacht Club Band' in the words of keyboard player and trombonist Pete Bernoth.
And they lay down the funk gauntlet early on tonight in the form of dance friendly new single Weekend Lover, with it's celebratory, Jamioquai style good time vibes and 'raise your hands in the air' chorus putting everyone in the room into the aural pleasure zone. Another major strength of the band is their gorgeous vocal interplay, and tonight their wondrous high falsetto harmonies bring to mind none other than famous BrisVegas musical export the Bee Gees.
While exhibiting their newly evolving, funkier tendencies to impressive effect throughout their joyous set, the band also conjure a bunch of musical delights from their original sound oeuvre, the highlight for this reviewer being the sprawlingly impressive Rainbow Kraut, which locks into an unrelenting, mantra like groove while the band gloriously channel their multi faceted cosmic harmonics. Quirky, catchy and borne of Brisbane, the presence of another of their home town's finest musical exports, the newly reborn Custard, also imbibes the vibes of tonight's proceedings.
With the amount of talent onstage there's also plenty going on to catch one's eye as well as ear, from the rabid beard and sunglasses at night stylings of co-frontman Tim Morrissey through to the uncanny resemblance to each other, complemented by matching outfits, of drummer Ross Chandler and guitarist/keyboardist Luke McDonald.
Closing in fast on their ten year anniversary, tonight The John Steel Singers display a chameleon like ability to switch seamlessly between musical genres and generations both old and new, all the while keeping things tight and eclectic - a super-sized smorgasbord of aural delights from a super talented bunch!
- Anthony Gebhardt