Photos by Matthew Shaw
Romy Vager is quickly establishing their reputation as one of Melbourne's pre-eminent vocalists.
Some nights feel so fundamentally Melbourne that you can’t help but fall in love with this city all over again. Catching the bus to Brunswick’s Howler on a brisk autumn night to see three stellar local bands certainly sparked that feeling in this romantic.
First on the bill, Pinch Points made a statement the second the quartet stepped onto the stage; each wearing matching Pinch Points shirts as they ripped through a set of hard and fast punk. The band laughed off little snags, like when drummer Issy Orsini belted her kit so hard that her drumstick snapped and half of it flung through the air, landing at guitarist Adam Smith’s feet, as people slowly trickled into the bandroom.
Next up, Terry bestowed their blissful harmonies and a sound so full it begs for the kind of big, open space only a live setting can provide. Their set was so entrancing that it wasn’t until they thanked RVG for having them that you remembered they weren’t the headliner of the evening.
By the time RVG hit the stage, the sold-out crowd had packed the room so tightly members of the front row’s knees and toes were pressed firmly against the stage.
“We’re going to play for quite a while, so strap yourselves in,” announced lead singer Romy Vager before diving straight into a cover of John Cale’s ‘Dying on the Vine’ that the band delivered with such sincerity it could easily be mistaken for an RVG original.
When they reached the third track of their set, ‘Alexandra’, Vager’s face and chest were aglow with a slick layer of sweat. Despite the gig being a single launch for this very track, she was nonchalant as she introduced it.
“This is the single,” she said, before adding “I don’t really have anything to say”. The crowd, on the other hand, were very vocal in their approval.
It’s impossible not to get swept away with RVG as they get lost in their music, though the tugging anxiety that Vager was going to step on an empty glass plonked mid-stage as she danced, seemingly unaware of her surroundings, was enough to pull one back into the present.
The crowd sang along with the band through favourites ‘Vincent Van Gogh’, ‘That’s All’ and ‘Eggshell World’ as the air buzzed with mutual excitement. When the pause in ‘IBM’ elicited a complete blackout, the climax of energy exploded through the pitch black room before RVG bellowed the lights back on.
Come the end of their set, each strand of Vager’s hair was dripping with sweat; it streaked the shiny body of her black guitar while droplets of spit slowly trickled from the microphone to the floor below.
There is a certain pain behind her voice that lends utter authenticity to her words; it’s visceral, stirring and completely moving in a live setting. The band needn’t rely on stage personas or rehearsed antics, to watch each of them entirely in the zone is enough to evoke chills.
After a brief reprieve, the band returned to the stage for an encore. Vager seemed genuinely surprised that people were willing to stick around for more after what she’d thought was a riskily lengthy set list.
“If you’re willing to stay, so are we,” she grinned.
Throwing another cover into the mix, RVG ripped through Buzzcocks’ ‘Something’s Gone Wrong Again’, bringing the energy up before smashing through ‘Feral Beach’ and ‘Planet Earth’.
RVG are the kind of band that make you feel happy to call Melbourne home. Their sound is almost a love letter to the city they, and we, call home – one you want to hold to your heart as you pore over again and again.
Highlight: The John Cale cover definitely deserves a special mention.
Lowlight: Standing way too close to the speaker became a regret the instant the gig ended and my ears started ringing.
Crowd Favourite: ‘That’s All’.
