Live Review: Even, The Trafalgars

There was a whiff of nostalgia in the air tonight with recently reformed Adelaide band The Trafalgars opening this special Even anniversary show. For those unfamiliar with The Trafalgars, they were around the local music scene in the noughties and garnered a bit of following and triple j airplay. But they called it a day before they were about to make the big time, which is a shame as they had a good sound. Tonight we got to relive it all on this special night.

Even is celebrating 20 years since the release of their debut album Less Is More and it's an Aussie classic. It was great to see the merch desk was stocked full of the vinyl reissue and on orange vinyl, no less! Tonight was an affair in two halves — the first set was the album top to tail and the second set featured a combination of hits and rarities. The band finally hit The Grace Emily Hotel's stage at the ripe hour of 10.30pm. Karmic Flop kicked off the set and, even though this was an album this scribe has listened to quite often, it was great to hear it live again. Even is a band that doesn't tour that often, which is a shame, but tonight they ended up playing for almost two hours!

The band has not changed in its 20-plus years of existence. Ashley Naylor is a great frontman; a wizard on guitar who loves a bit of banter in between songs. Wally Kempton always chimes in with a bit of banter himself and lays down some groove on the bass. The birthday boy Matt Cotter sits silently-but-productively on the skins.

Even were tight tonight and hearing Less Is More from beginning to end was a real joy. We saw why The Age included it in its top 30 Best Australian Albums Of All Time recently! An unexpected highlight was Naylor's improvised birthday song at the end of the first set.

The second set was also a treat. They ripped through classics such as No Surprises, Black Umbrella and this scribe's personal highlight of the night, Bowie In My Dreams, which they jammed out to about nine minutes! Even's new song Little Piece, a sneak peek at their upcoming album and the flipside of the Don't Wait 7" picture disc made available at the show, was given a run-through. It continued that typical indie-rock Even style that throws back to '60s pop sounds. Another highlight was when the singer/guitarist of The Trafalgars, Rhys Bowkett, joined the band on stage during Sunshine Comes and the rarely played Watching My Door. When the final note of Rainbows was hit, the time was 12.30am. It was time to say goodbye, but not before the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Cotter.