Live Review: The Church

6 July 2015 | 2:24 pm | Sara Tamim

"Kilbey used stage antics, belting and vibrato to capture the crowd in addition to the dreamy keyboard and guttural guitar."

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The venue filled swiftly as the mature audience flooded towards the bar to prepare for an exciting night ahead. The support act slot was empty, so the chattering voices and laughs of the crowd echoed through the venue, creating a sense of anticipation and electricity. Lead vocalist, Steve Kilbey, literally jumped onto stage, introducing himself as “The Church” before ploughing into Almost With You. Although a shaky start vocally, the crowd seemed pleased to hear the familiar melody that could have been a soundtrack to their teenage years. 

As the set unfolded, Kilbey’s low and gravelly vocals became haunting, sitting almost in contrast to the dense yet shiny guitar-pop and the elements of synth keyboard sprinkled all over their newer tunes. It became evident throughout the show that The Church themselves found their recent music most intriguing, as both their vocal and instrumental work in these songs seemed explosive, the tempo contrasting in each song, creating a static effect to the vocalist’s word painting. 

Each song seemed to blend many genres — country, rock and glittering pop — which shaped an overall nuanced performance, although at times it may have seemed chaotic. Towards the end of the show the juxtaposition of emotion became evident, especially in the vocals as Kilbey used stage antics, belting and vibrato to capture the crowd in addition to the dreamy keyboard and guttural guitar in the tune The Disillusionist. Towards the end, The Church revealed a more calm and measured presence. The audience began to take this as a cue to await the much-loved melody of Under The Milky Way. As the peak of the night, it encouraged singalongs, dancing and hugging, everyone in that moment coming together as one.