Date: August 14, 2009
Venue: The Hi-Fi, Brisbane
Acts: Bertie Blackman, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Kimbra
The soulful raggedness of Kiwi songstress Kimbra belies her diminutive physical presence alone at the centre of the sprawling Hi-Fi stage. There’s something Jeff Buckley-esque about the way she spins restrained jazz-inflected guitar for her throbbing voice to warp itself around. It works. Beautifully. Still, hundreds of pig-ignorant punters would rather shout over her and line up for over-priced beer. Even one astonishing a-capella moment where she abandons guitar to loops her own vocals into a multi-octave beat-boxed melody draws not much more than polite interest.
The pop-rock charm of Hungry Kids of Hungary is as undeniable as it is irrepressible. In some ways, they seem to take a lot of their cues from fellow locals The Boat People — lots of melodic guitar hooks and sweet male harmonies. Sure, songs like Scattered Diamonds are pure indie fairy floss, but, by the same token, hating on them feels like going around kicking puppies for fun.
It’s an awful long time since I’ve seen Bertie Blackman play a gig. Probably 2004 at the Rev supporting the aforementioned Boaties. I vaguely remember a strongly guitar-based rock shtick — a little in the vein of Mia Dyson, but sans the twang. How things change: tonight Blackman is full of electronic influences and dance beats. At one point she even ditches the guitar completely. It’s a strong performance without ever being wholly engrossing — and the venue can take some blame here. Fact is that when the Hi-Fi fills up — like tonight — there’s really nowhere to get away from the crowd and for this little black duck the overwhelming crush got a little bit unnerving toward the end of the night.