Live Review: Ali Barter

Ali Barter

Like most things about the city, it's easy to take Brisbane Festival for granted.

It happens at the same time every year and would be easy to miss if you didn't live in Southbank or West End. However, the festival schedule always holds a few gems nestled within its program, and one of the most enduring surprises is exactly how incredible the Spiegeltent is as a venue for live music performances.

We're visited under its vaulted ceiling this evening by Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Ali Barter, who may have left all her merchandise back home, but is well and truly ready to perform the songs from her debut album, A Suitable Girl. She's joined by a three-piece band of scruffy looking guys who are an enthusiastic accompaniment for the singer, although the bass player occasionally takes things too far when he steps up on the foldback speakers to demand more applause. Barter meanwhile wields a white Gibson guitar as she stands confidently in front of a large group of supportive fans.

With one album already under her belt, the singer is showing no signs of slowing down tonight as she plays some new songs throughout the set. There are a couple of untitled tracks throughout the set, the second being not only the fastest and most upbeat number in her repertoire, but also features plenty of "na na na"s that will make for the perfect singalong in the future. There sounds like there's plenty of personality in these songs, although it's hard to catch specific lyrics.

While guitar-driven power pop songs like Light Them On Fire and Hypercolour are highlights, it's the personality and politicism of Barter's recent singles Girlie Bits, Cigarette, and One Foot In that remain the more compelling elements of her work. These songs and their themes are foreshadowed by a cover of Tame Impala's 'Cause I'm A Man halfway through the night, which is more interesting as an artistic statement in the hands of Barter and her band than it is a piece of engaging music.

Taken on their own, Barter's songs are an entertaining and enjoyable experience, although often verging on very familiar and forgettable indie-rock territory. Taken in context of each other, as they are under the Spiegeltent tonight, they form a coherent and complex expression of her experience, which is a pleasure to behold.