Now that the death rattles of winter have finally finished, there is a noticeable change in the air around Melbourne. No shit, it’s called Spring. Duh. More specifically that means the good people of Melbourne are ready to emerge from their months of winter hibernation and party again. What better way to get back into the saddle than to check out some rocking alt-country bands at the Grace Darling.
I don’t know who Grace Darling was but I doubt she could sing like Krista Polvere, who kicked the night off in stunning fashion. Accompanied by the guitarist from her backing band The Black List, she quickly drew the audience in from the back rooms with stripped bare acoustic versions of tunes from her latest album Reservoir Drive. On a cool side note, the album was made with a little help from alt-country ‘Christ figure’, Ryan Adams. That alone makes it worth checking out but she’s got more than enough talent to stand up on her own merit.
Speaking of Ryan Adams, second band on the bill The Wild Comforts had a sound reminiscent of his early band Whiskeytown. They might not be as drunk or dysfunctional as Whiskeytown, but they definitely know how to warm-up an audience.
I’ve never seen the band room at the Grace Darling Hotel so packed. The energy in the room was frenetic. The crowd were very much here for the headliners Millar Dukes and the Bandits, and like a Mentos being dropped into a bottle of coke, the room exploded. It’s medically impossible to not get the urge to ‘shake it’ during tracks like Be Mine which saw the crowd singing and dancing along with more enthusiasm than I’ve ever seen a ‘local’ band get.
Dancing and Breath Mints aside, the night was about launching the band’s debut single Love Me All Night; a jangly harmonica driven track that wouldn’t sound out of place on the Beatles’ album A Hard Days Night. Other notable standout tracks included the gentle lap steel lament of Friend Or Foe and the Kings Of Leon-esque encore track We Are The Fire. These guys might be Melbourne’s best kept secret and with more good songs than you could poke a hay fork at, it probably won’t stay that way for long.
BY JAMES BARLOW
Loved: Millar Dukes and the Bandit’s Marvin Gaye cover.
Hated: That it was over so darn fast.
Drank: Whiskey.
