City & ColourWith all three bands expressing their intense love of Belvoir as one of their favourite venues in the world, it was hard not to feel pretty chuffed. I mean, Perth of all places? Playing to a sold out crowd, City & Colour, brainchild of ex-Alexisonfire's Dallas Green, put on one of the best performances this reviewer has seen in a long time.
Despite the early set time, American folk rockers Twin Forks had a decent turnout and had the audience up the front dancing right from the start. Sweet and charming frontman Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) had a great audience rapport and their track, Scraping Up The Pieces, was catchy and, for lack of a better word, adorable. Ending on the first track from their debut EP, Back To You, these guys showed they really gel together as musicians.
Melbourne four-piece Husky upped the intensity; however, their mellow tunes proved a little underwhelming after the upbeat vibe of Twin Forks. Musically, Husky were tight and their harmonies intriguing, but they lacked the audience involvement and heart that could have added a lot to the performance. Having said that, the title track of their last album, Forever So, stood out as an excellent live performance.
Oddly enough playing the entirety of Soul II Soul's a cappella Back To Life as their intro song, City & Colour took to the stage to raucous applause. Supported by a band of four other musicians, Green played a good mix of new tracks and old classics – a perfect setlist. Stripping right back to just himself, his guitar and his harmonica for a few tunes, he politely requested that the audience put away their various recording devices for Body In A Box, and when not everyone obliged he not-so-politely called them “arseholes for not being able to last three minutes”. Green's smooth vocal tone and knack for clever lyricism had the audience hooked from start to finish, and the call for an encore did not go unanswered. Older track, The Girl, was a personal highlight of the night, before finishing with a smashing rendition of new tune, Death's Song. Green's ability to translate his songs from recording to live performance made for an astounding show and left the audience raving all the way back to the classic concert-gridlocked car park.
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