Live Review: Benjamin Booker, Jade Imagine, Baby Blue

As we head into the Corner it's difficult not to notice that Swan Street is pumping out classic feel-good Saturday night vibes as crowds throng into a bunch of newly opened bars and restaurants that seems to have given the place back its mojo.

Apparently a four-piece, Baby Blue present as a two-piece tonight - a couple of duelling electric guitarists with a slow garage/surf vibe. They look pretty monochrome dressed in black and playing white guitars. Vocalist Rhea Caldwell comes off sounding a little like Kim Deal fronting Velvet Underground, her voice swirls in the mix with hints of streetwise attitude to hypnotic effect. Their new single Fire & Ice is definitely worth a spin.

Tonight, Jade Imagine aka Jade McInally ditches her band and goes it solo to give us an intimate, up close and personal set. She sets a slack pace that feels a touch slow and meandering for a Saturday night. Perhaps trying to be ironic, she talks about the weather in between songs that seemingly reflect on the here and now of life in Melbourne. McInally's dreamy vocals carry her through to the finish line.

While Benjamin Booker draws an all-ages crowd there is a noticeable contingent of older fans in the room who look like they were raised on mid-century rock and roll. It's been a relatively sedate evening so far but Booker and his band hit us up hard with a voluminous mix of fierce rock, blues, boogie and punk attitude that cockily struts like glam.

Tunes off Booker's self-titled first album tend to be loud and raucous but songs from his second album come with more refined gospel and soul vibes. Mavis Staples isn't on hand to deliver the backing vocals she provided on Witness but nonetheless, there's a stately edge to this song that shows just how much Booker has grown over the course of just two albums. Booker comes across as rather serious and focused man, his lyrics reflect on personal experience and politics of just being alive in 21st-century America.

Beyond the driving, good-time rock he delivers tonight his lyrics give us plenty to think about. There's a lot of grit and experience in Booker's vocals. Surprisingly though they are a touch soft, bolstered by a myriad of effects that are capable of cutting through the loud mix. "I went to this place today… ahhh, never mind," he laughs, not wanting to pad the hour-long set with too much chatter. The focus is squarely on his music and his band playing it ultra-tight do well to keep up with the pace he sets. An hour with Booker evaporates quickly. He has well and truly lifted the lid on the Corner by the time he's done with us.