Live Review: The Audreys, Nathan Gaunt

It was a hot one at Mojos on Sunday, but that didn't stop the punters from filling up the joint nice and early to show their support for the now-local opening act Nathan Gaunt. Gaunt had eyes and ears from the moment he began playing his first song, but the heads intently turned when he used his vocal harmony pedal for the first time. No one else was singing, yet delightful and tasteful harmonies were accompanying his voice. The use of such vocal equipment has long been known to be incredibly inefficient, yet Gaunt used the pedal with such expertise and precision you would swear that there was another vocalist on stage with him. Backed by a drummer who he frequently teased about not trusting him with a microphone, Gaunt played an intoxicating set of conventionally and classically written, yet profoundly wonderful songs.

The Audreys left a reasonable amount of time after Gaunt for the people to liquor themselves up nicely before taking to the stage and being warmly received. They began their set to near silence as everyone listened intently to the duo as they played versions of their songs that had been stripped right back to the way they were written in the first place. Guitarist Tristan Goodall provided the musical balancing beam for Taasha Coates to gracefully dance over with her warm and gentle vocals, and he also provided much of the banter for the audience, being charming and funny in the kind of awkward way that dad jokes are charming and funny. Midway through, they played a number of new, soon-to-be-released tracks as a teaser for their next tour over to the western seaboard in a few months' time, in which they'll be accompanied by a full band. Performed as a duo, the tracks proved to be lovely as they were; something that is not always well executed in such a raw fashion.

The highlight and the most commendable moment of the night, however, after all the jokes were told and the drinks were refilled, was the ukulele and guitar number at the very end. Technical issues were minor up until this point, but one song from the end, the ukulele completely cut out. Devoted entirely to the song at that point, Coates continued while Goodall rectified the problem, trying everything to make it work. In the end, they mic'd up the uke and pulled it off. Commitment, right there.