Live Review: Hatchie, Moody Beach

It's always a challenge when opening for a headliner that everyone is hyped to see and when the crowd (based on a sample size of four) doesn't know what to expect. But Moody Beach had no problem winning over the massed ranks of Hatchie fans at Mary's Underground.

Moody Beach is the project of Melissah Marie and has been a constant on the Sydney music scene for the past five years with their atmospheric, sometimes ethereal, sometimes pumping tunes.  Marie owns the stage with her black Paul McCartney bass and signature dance moves. The band's composition has fluctuated over time, but has now stabilised and features members of Ona Mota alongside longtime guitarist Caleb Jacobs.

Moody Beach kicked off by front loading the set with three of their 2021 releases (The Other, Why Not and Plastic Love) alongside a cover of Echo & The Bunnymen’s Killing Moon, which had the crowd up and dancing. The back half of the set was more chilled with Vanilla and All I Do from their debut EP which still sound great paired with their more recent deeper sounding and more complex compositions.

They snuck in a second cover which, given the age of the audience, may well have been the first time they'd ever heard Buzzcocks’ Have You Ever Fallen In Love? which sounded great, even though the band had only rehearsed it once and never played it in public before.

The crowd swelled quickly for the early Sunday set from Hatchie. The show, having been postponed from February, was intended to be a launch show for her ‘new’ single, This Enchanted, so it was suitably the opening track as she launched onto the stage with a four-piece band behind her.

Without her trusty bass, Harriette Pilbeam seemed a little bit lost at times as she swayed and smiled on the small stage, singing to an eclectic group of fans who not only knew the words to classics, such as her 2017 solo debut, Try, but new singles, Lights On and Quicksand. A performance of unreleased track, The Rhythm, gave the audience another sneak peek at the eagerly anticipated second album to be released in just a few weeks, Giving The World Away.

Without A Blush and Stay With Me from her 2019 debut album Keepsake were received well and showcased how pristine her voice was sounding, especially when mixed with a sold out room. Crush, the 1998 classic from Jennifer Paige, was a great choice of cover performed at Pilbeam’s customary dreamy-pop pace.

The band behind Hatchie were faultless, providing a rock-solid platform for the artist to really concentrate on her singing and dancing and one hopes that the next opportunity to see her live will give her a bigger room and stage to work with.

In fact, after performing final track, Sure, she announced that she’ll be back soon and for the eager crowd, it can’t be soon enough.