Live Review: BIGSOUND Live: Bonjah, The Pierce Brothers and more

Roshan Clerke wraps up night two at BIGSOUND.

Halfway, The Zoo
Halfway make you proud to be from Brisbane, and that’s no easy act of redemption. The local eight-piece are purveyors of the finest alt-country around, peddling their ghostly and melancholic sound with the assistance of aching lap-steel guitar melodies and gorgeous vocal harmonies that could lull a grown, bearded man to sleep.

Their music feels like the kind of unassuming friend you’d invite around to your house anytime. There’s a banjo onstage, but there’s no fuss made over it; any sense of fake nostalgia has taken the backseat to a passion for full-bodied songs, with lightly-flecked shades of gentle Australiana.

Miss En Scene, Ric's Bar
Mis En Scene are making a scene. Ric’s Bar is crowded full of spectators come to take in the spectacle that is these two women from Canada. It’s nice to see a band dressed up, and their outfits reflect the aspects of their performance; messy hair is flung through the air like their wild sound, and sequinned jackets complement a sense of showmanship that’s rarely seen these days. They lay down more power chords than at a power station, as their rock and roll rhythms sway hips and hearts through the night.

Bonjah, The Zoo
BONJAH rip into their set at The Zoo, speeding through their single Evolution at a rate Charles Darwin would call unnatural, but that we simply call rocking. Frontman Glenn Mossop’s voice is as dry and raspy, sounding as thirsty for a drink as the crowd is for the band’s music. They soon slow into smooth grooves, letting slinking basslines slip down the audience’s spines and into their toes. There’s big things ahead for the band, who’s third album of bluesy swagger was released in April, and is sounding positively lascivious.

Holy Holy, The Elephant Hotel
Holy Holy have been gaining lots of attention lately, like the new girl at school. Their single House Of Cards goes down a treat, as the large crowd packed inside The Elephant Hotel swoon beneath their atmospheric sounds. Guitarist Oscar Dawson’s noodling adds an ethereal, stadium-ready sense of proportion to their sound, as the five-piece band layer melodies upon each other like a grandmother’s quilt. The result is a pleasing patchwork of comforting pop that warm the hearts of all who listen.

The Pierce Brother, The Zoo
The Pierce Brothers are chatty: ‘We get a lot of airplay in Europe,’ they preface the barnstorming It’s My Fault. If you can imagine Simon and Garfunkle with long hair and dreadlocks, playing freewheeling roots-rock that perfect to stomp your feet to, then you’re part way to picturing the brothers from Melbourne. It’s refreshing to find a band so proud of their success, and after their stunning instrumental pieces featuring didgeridoo, harmonica, and acoustic guitars, there’s not a single doubt that this band is doing something special with their genre.

The Funkoars, The Rev
The Funkoars are horny, although probably not for the reasons you suspect. The Adelaide hip-hop group have brought a brass section along for their show tonight. There’s even a French horn player, looking slightly out of place. They play up the novelty factor of the backing musicians, but the truth is The Funkoars have created an interesting dynamic by inviting them on the stage. So far the boys, signed to Golden Era Records, haven’t done much besides validating the ‘fun’ in Funkoars, but the incorporation of live instrumentation introduces another element to their set beyond simply jumping up and down and shouting. ‘This how hip-hip supposed to sound,’ they chant. We don’t argue with them.

Client Liaison, Oh Hello
Client Liaison emerge to the faraway sound of a saxophone, which is the kind of sensuous siren call that defines the Melbourne duo. The stylish pair work all areas of the stage, posing and prancing like they truly have absorbed the message of their song Free Of Fear. Frontman Monte Morgan embodies this further as he takes off his flowery jacket, revealing a dark, see-though shirt underneath. His dance moves to their interpretation of Kimbra’s 90s Music are glorious in their abandon.
‘Style over substance,’ Morgan states, as the the opening notes of Feelings wash over the crowd. While this remains the mantra of their music to a certain extent, seen through Morgan’s gradual removal of layers of clothing and costume changes, the sincerity of his songwriting on their current single Queen puts to rest any claims of their appeal as shallow. We are the clients, and they liaise with our desires on the dancefloor.