Date: September 26, 2009
Venue: Brisbane Powerhouse
Acts: The Gin Club
It’s the day after local/Oz music festival Sounds of Spring and alt-country outfit The Gin Club are backing up their performance of the previous day with another at the Powerhouse. It probably seemed a great idea at the time of booking, but this afternoon they have a bunch of wicked hangovers in tow. The seriously worse-for-wear appearance seems an inevitable preface for a rough performance, but the band defy stereotyping by putting in a top-drawer effort.
In between numerous sly references to “Freeland” — apparently the (free!) source of this afternoon’s post-alcoholic pain — Ben Salter, Scott Regan, Adrian Stoyles and Conor Macdonald each take turns to lead the band through a delightful hit-list drawn from double-album Junk plus at least one new, unreleased tune: Chopping Wood. Tons of back-and-forth banter gives the feel of a casual warm-down gig, but there’s nothing lukewarm about the performance. Even now, at a remove of some six months, Salter’s choked-up intensity on despairing ballad You, Me & The Sea is still a thing of wonder to me.