Photo of Sherlock's Daughter by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
Sometimes it's hard to know what to do with a public holiday. Wanting to maximise this bonus day off, you can get sidetracked by all the choices and end up doing nothing!
This Queen's Birthday, the decision was pretty easy. The music-savvy folks at Spunk Records had kindly organised a FBI 94.5FM fundraiser at the Metro with a brilliant line-up: New Buffalo, The Middle East, Machine Translations, Firekites, Sherlock's Daughter, Megastick Fanfare just to name some of the 30 bands who lugged their gear on stage and captivated the crowd.
Photo of Sherlock's Daughter by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
It was good to see Sherlock's Daughter again. I was a little sad that they didn't use the pumpkin thumb piano they mentioned on-air when they were on Local Fidelity the night before. They put on a pretty lively show though, lack of musical vegetables aside.
Photo of Tim from the Firekites by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
My major disappointment of the night? Learning - via Shag, from Arvos - that Firekites had done an incredible cover version of 16 Beats by New Buffalo while I was manning the FBI merch desk. I was crushed! Especially as I've been in love with that song since it appeared on Sally Seltmann's first EP back in 2001. One consolation though - Tim from Firekites says they will likely to play the song again live, because it worked so well.
Photo of New Buffalo by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
Semi-speaking of New Buffalo, it was great to see her play again after a long absence from Sydney stages. The good news is that she is recording a new album and we got a taste of it when New Buffalo played an incredibly upbeat song from it, dedicated to "all the ladies in the house". Apparently the record will have a much more poppier energy to it than previous New Buffalo albums.
Photo of The Middle East by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
The unmistakable highlight of the night was seeing The Middle East perform again. I saw them back in February - in the more squishy confines of a sold-out Hopetoun Hotel show - but it was great to see them span their wings on a much bigger stage.
The band seemed energised by the thrill of (possibly?) performing to one of the largest crowds they've played so far.
I re-fell in love with their song Blood again (a track that Shag is so smitten with, he wishes he could have a legal relationship with it - he would marry that song if he could!)
For me, watching the seven-piece band recreate it onstage was mesmerising. The part in Blood where the band becomes a racuous choir - and the song surges into full-flight harmonies - was joyously loud and heart-halting. It was one of the most amazing things I've seen live this year. I can't wait to see The Middle East again.
Photo of The Middle East by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
Thanks to the swarm of great people who came to the show, bought CDs, FBI bags and merch and let their coins clang into our donation buckets. Keep saving FBI through the many gigs yet to come.
Photo of The Middle East by Will Reichelt, willreichelt.com
You can also check out some more great photos of the night, taken by my boyfriend Will, who spent most of the show running from stage to stage, camera lens in hand.
