17-04-2002 Revolver

Sorry, I missed the first two acts but Martin Contempree, ever the good spokesperson steps in and revs me up about them: Jay Atwill and Jigzag apparently held the Club Acoustica flag aloft and did themselves proud. It soon becomes apparent that this is going to be one pacey evening - it has to be to fit this many acts in - and each of the performers gets to play the song they contributed to the CD plus one or two others.

First act up for me are the Queenslanders women in docs and they do their thing - looking like they've been advised of time constraints and they're going to fit in their mini set regardless. It's an energy plus moment in the CA spotlight tonight and the tune from the CD, Crown Street (dedicated to the Sydneysiders they stay with) is a doozy.

King Curly carve up a beautiful swinging shuffle. Always have and always will. And while there aren’t many others who can pull off this kind of effortlessness, absolutely no one can take that shuffle and overlay it with melancholy melodies like they do. Tonight they're one of the three acts that really stand out for me, they even manage to squeeze in 'I Wish I Was A Girl'.

Dominique Fraissard begins with an instrumental that catches the audience and highlights what a good guitar player he is, thereafter settling into two tracks that, as always, make me think of Nick Drake, if he was alive now - and not taking his medication. Breezy, wistful and all representative of the folky end of Club Acoustica, every Fraissard set comes with an assured performance.

Brett Hunt I have seen a couple of times previously and thought I was missing the point. And on the evidence of this performance I was. Tonight Hunt accepts the billing as 'the next Dave Matthews'. His voice is huge, he's way more expressive than I've ever seen him and the beginnings of his band - over three songs he's joined first by another guitarist, then a bass player - look to be awesome. I'll be back at The Basement for the album launch in May.

Lyn Bowtell is nothing if not outgoing. Not just a big voice, Bowtell has a massive voice and tonight she's joined by a rockin' (in a blues/country kind of way) guitar player, Sam Vincent. And together the duo knows their way around a tune and an audience. It's an abrupt, dynamic performance, sort of like a short sermon preaching to the converted.

Luke O'Shea & Medicine Wheel know their way around an audience as well. This male/female fronted mob take country music and shake it within an inch of its life. Threatening to become cabaret along the way - especially with the 'kiss me, kiss me' tune. They're energy plus, tight and slick, packaged up and rarin' to go.

The last band on, Glance, have this little guy fronting them whose name I don't know (Barry - Ed) but he's alright. It's impossible to pick an act to go last in a line-up like this but in many ways it's a shame that it has to be Glance. But coming on after the country-ish cabaret of Medicine Wheel it's amazing to watch someone who isn't a showman. I like it. Front dude is, between songs, nervous, shuffling around and retuning his guitar but this just serves to highlight how much of himself he puts into these songs. When the songs get going he represents all that is good about Club Acoustica. He's unaffected and direct and able to convey emotional intensity without dressing it up and that, to me, is a talent. There's something beautifully raw about his performance - he loses all his nerves when he launches into the songs and if he can keep his rawness and intensity a lot of people will sit up and look at him. I'd be pretty happy if I was in his band.