Club Acoustica - Reviews

Club Acoustica is a lesson in what live musicians strive for; direct communication between the music and the audience, as if telling a fascinating yarn to a group of mates. Gone is the fancy lighting, cheesy choreography and extravagant sets. Sure it’s a little short on musical diversity, with the bulk of the night’s music loosely based around the acoustic guitar, but there is everything from the raw, stripped back energy of just guitar and vocals, to complete band outfits with percussion, acoustic bass and backup vocals. The short, thirty-minute sets are almost a ‘safety net’ for a dud performer, so you won’t have to endure it all that long.

In this, their 37th Basement showcase gig, Club Acoustica first presented Hope, a dashing brunette with a luscious husky voice, accompanied by a gent on the acoustic guitar. At times her lyrics bordered on the obvious (“in July, you lied…”, comes to mind), but she did achieve that goal of audience communication through gently tapering her voice and restraining its volume. The rapid tempo driven by forceful guitar strumming was certainly a key in generating music with more than just a ‘lounge’ appeal.

Next, self-described ‘acoustic-soul musician’, Jeremy Harrison with a solo set encompassing material from his debut EP ‘The Bridge is Busy’ and some more recent songwriting ventures. Wearing his trademark tweed cap, he appeared a little nervous at first before settling into his music, combining a harmonica and lap-steel stringed guitar with the regular six-stringed acoustic type.

Perhaps it was just the loud amplification but Abi Tucker’s voice really grated with me every time she held a note at the end of a lyric. It just projected a little too much and was intrusive, obnoxious… annoying. That aside, in the moments when her voice was carefully restrained and coupled with the furious, passionate strumming of guitarist ‘Sid’, the performance was enjoyable and Tucker could be forgiven.

Michael Longhurst, whose claim to fame is being a part of the youngest band ever to play the Big Day Out, performed a set riddled with cheesy harmonies, but some tasty vocal solos. Accompanied by an acoustic bassist and percussionist, Longhurst jammed out a set which was unquestionably Mayer-ish in its cute guitar melodies and bouncy vocals.

Closing the night were the endearing Canberra five-piece Griffin. When compared to the ‘bare essentials’ nature of the earlier acts of the evening, Griffin had a distinctly richer and fuller sound. Whilst the rest of the band were certainly a necessary component, much of their music rode off the back of Jason Maynard, a guitarist and vocalist who has achieved some reasonable success as a solo artist outside the band.

…And so another night from the legendary Club Acoustica team; perhaps a little light on musical diversity, but the environment of these nights is a welcome relief from the formality of the heavyweights of the live music scene.