Live Review: Rick Fights - Black Bear lodge

A surprisingly jam-packed Wednesday night sees a rather interesting night play out at Black Bear Lodge with a cavalcade of Brisbane local talent converging for an intimate evening of re-interpreted classics, familiarities and new workings, all giving the Black Bear Lodge a homely feel, reminiscent of the glory days of The Troubadour.

First up is Martyr Private, the band's singular rather than usual plural form finding frontman Cameron Hawes taking the stage solo with an electric guitar and delay-driven vocals. The set is interesting, with the solo mode working rather well on the chosen songs. It's tight, confident and full with the only flaw perhaps being a slight lack in volume even for the intimate atmosphere. Hawes finishes with the string-bending hooks of Native Son and deservedly receives a welcome response.

Casually having a drink in front of the stage and then sleuthing onto stage in his winter attire, Kitchen's Floor – tonight the sole domain of band's chief, Matt Kennedy – pulls out an acoustic guitar for soundcheck and straight away jumps into the swing of things, strumming the acoustic and yelling as if the set had a much beefier PA behind it. It's a take that most definitely works with the reinterpreted brash punk songs, if anything, more aggressive and deeper. There's no banter from Kennedy apart from the final 'thank you', each song lasting roughly between 90 seconds and two minutes, yet interest radiates from the audience. No Love, Graves and 116 are notable highlights before Kennedy casually strolls off after 20 minutes to no complaints.

Tonight's headliner Matthew Somers (as with Hawes an alumni of I Heart Hiroshima) playing under the pseudonym of Rick Fights has garnered a rather large audience for his singer/songwriter endeavour. The lights are slightly dimmed as the set begins with Somers crooning over the PA, offering an obviously very different sound to his past ventures. It starts off a tad slowly compared to the pace set by the previous acts but when his element is found it's a rather enjoyable collection of songs on show, with the clever wordplay of Somers' lyrics coming through as the pace is heightened. He uses effects on his guitar that sound reminiscent of a sitar, in between jumping from delay to reverb creating textures and then delving into more sparse Gareth Liddiard territory. All 'round a great end to a great night. 

As the patrons spill out onto the streets for cigarettes and banter, nothing but smiles are present with a great evening concluded for the cost of a thank you at the bar. With the Black Bear Lodge hosting more and more shows, the future strangely seems bright in Fortitude Valley again.