Live Review: Bonjah, Timberwolf, Kaurna Cronin

Melbourne/NZ quartet Bonjah headlined a Newtown Social Club set that felt a little pre-packaged.

Riffs and hooks were all lined up like ducks, and if they hadn’t been supported by a more dynamic and interesting act in Adelaide’s Timberwolf, they might’ve pulled it off better. As it was they sounded loud, cocky, but rote.

Kaurna Cronin opened before a few curious punters with a delicate set of folk tunes that maybe spread the golden syrup on a bit too thick; lilting melodies and feather-light finger-pickin’ supported oh-so-heartbreaking stories of travelling and friendships and families etc. As a live set it was nice, and his raw talent is bloody obvious. His voice has just enough grit to maintain character while remaining clear and soothing, and his guitar playing is golden. Your enjoyment of his stuff will depend on your ability to leave a reality of an over-crowded, homogenous easy-listening folk scene behind.

Timberwolf was the clear winner of the night in terms of critical impact, even if the crowd were there for Bonjah. Chris Panousakis is a charismatic and super-talented band leader and musician, and his intuitive talent for songwriting is outstanding. Along with Kaurna and Dom Symes he played a tight set of cinematic, Appalachian-tinted blues/folk rock, and while we’ve heard it all before by now (Mumford & Sons et-fucking-al) these guys bring something fresh, and were worth the ticket price and more. The blues element gave it depth, and if they just dropped the overuse of three-part harmonie-driven oohs and aahs (it’s just empty filler!) it’d sit much better.

Bonjah were kind of a bore, 4/4 roadside blues bar songs following one after the other with few surprises. Fans of their work in attendance rejoiced! They left nothing out. For everyone else it was a decent effort playing moderately entertaining songs. Meh.