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The Vaudeville Smash, Clarity @
The Good God Small Club, Sydney (28/10/2011)
The Vaudeville Smash’s show at the Good God Small Club was for their "Breezy Summer Hits" Launch; two songs that belong on anyone’s summer hits list. The Vaudeville Smash are self dubbed nouveau yacht rock; An accurately bestowed genre upon listening to their music. It is reminiscent of yacht-rock of the 70s and 80s with a modern dance spin. Fresh from their sell out of the Melbourne venue, The Corner Hotel, The Vaudeville Smash filled out the stage with a presence very hard to ignore.
Opening were high-energy electro-dance-funk Sydney band Clarity. Turning the crowd into a full dance floor and setting the tone for the night to come, Clarity conversed and seemed like a simple extension of the crowd providing entertainment. Crowd participation came in daring dance moves and hands in the air cheering on Tim Rees’s onstage antics of dancing, talking and joking a long through the set.
Clarity are defined by Tim Rees’s falsetto tones a’la Prince or Michael Jackson. Upon beginning the set the crowd seemed a little hesitant only until the first good dance beat kicked in, something not missing from much of this night. The simple lyrics and steady beat had some singing a long to songs such as 1992, a disco-esque dance song longing for the old days of 1992; a time I doubt the band members were really old enough to enjoy. Standout songs in the set were the aforementioned 1992 and Cotton Candy.
The time between Clarity and The Vaudeville Smash was quite short and fast. The crowd was not quite ready to be up and dancing again so soon and that showed in the dance floor staying mostly empty for the first song. Within two songs though, the thoughts coming to mind were why are these guys not more well known? The crowd may have been lacking for the first song, but they quickly reappeared, back with drinks and more energy to spare.
Starting off with the dynamic ‘Roller Disco’, fun lyrics and a funky beat bought the crowd slowly back onto the dance floor, as regular fans clearly got ready to enjoy the night. ‘Strangest Dream’, one of the two songs on the new record was up next to everyone’s delight. Marc Lucchesi, vocals and sax, popped up with his saxophone bringing whoops and cheers from the crowd and letting other lead vocals and drums, Dan Lucchesi take charge.
The second Breezy Summer Hits song, ‘I Want You’ seemed a crowd favourite with a chorus of crooning out ‘I want you and you want me too so why don’t we do woah’ putting the crowd right into the bands hands to work with. The crowd of early to late twenties, some still in business gear, were clearly letting go with dance moves getting crazier and the room getting hotter. An announcement of a new song was met with mass cheering.
One thing that must be said about this band is that Marc Lucchesi’s voice is amazing, the live performance perhaps even better than the already brilliant recordings. Lucchesi’s habit of dropping out of sight than suddenly popping up with another instrument was also an amusing yet great part of the night. He turned up a saxophone, a flute and a tambourine in the one hour set while also maintaining co-lead vocals. The smile on guitarist Nic Lam’s face just seemed to get wider and brighter as the night went on. A guitar solo at one point had more than fifty per cent of the crowd aiming spirit fingers at a beaming Lam.
Ending on an amazing high with ‘Dirty Old Man (Come Inside)’ the crowd was going insane, singing, dancing and jumping to a song that should be absolutely ridiculous but is crazy, fun and obviously a massive favourite. The night ended to the sound of clapping, cheering and calls for more from a crowd that could not have gotten more from any band.
The Vaudeville Smash will be in Melbourne, performing at the HiFi Bar November 4th. They will be back in Sydney, December 17th at the Kings Cross Hotel venue FBI Social. To see more tour dates and information visit http://thevaudevillesmash.com/
Casey Cunningham
Opening were high-energy electro-dance-funk Sydney band Clarity. Turning the crowd into a full dance floor and setting the tone for the night to come, Clarity conversed and seemed like a simple extension of the crowd providing entertainment. Crowd participation came in daring dance moves and hands in the air cheering on Tim Rees’s onstage antics of dancing, talking and joking a long through the set.
Clarity are defined by Tim Rees’s falsetto tones a’la Prince or Michael Jackson. Upon beginning the set the crowd seemed a little hesitant only until the first good dance beat kicked in, something not missing from much of this night. The simple lyrics and steady beat had some singing a long to songs such as 1992, a disco-esque dance song longing for the old days of 1992; a time I doubt the band members were really old enough to enjoy. Standout songs in the set were the aforementioned 1992 and Cotton Candy.
The time between Clarity and The Vaudeville Smash was quite short and fast. The crowd was not quite ready to be up and dancing again so soon and that showed in the dance floor staying mostly empty for the first song. Within two songs though, the thoughts coming to mind were why are these guys not more well known? The crowd may have been lacking for the first song, but they quickly reappeared, back with drinks and more energy to spare.
Starting off with the dynamic ‘Roller Disco’, fun lyrics and a funky beat bought the crowd slowly back onto the dance floor, as regular fans clearly got ready to enjoy the night. ‘Strangest Dream’, one of the two songs on the new record was up next to everyone’s delight. Marc Lucchesi, vocals and sax, popped up with his saxophone bringing whoops and cheers from the crowd and letting other lead vocals and drums, Dan Lucchesi take charge.
The second Breezy Summer Hits song, ‘I Want You’ seemed a crowd favourite with a chorus of crooning out ‘I want you and you want me too so why don’t we do woah’ putting the crowd right into the bands hands to work with. The crowd of early to late twenties, some still in business gear, were clearly letting go with dance moves getting crazier and the room getting hotter. An announcement of a new song was met with mass cheering.
One thing that must be said about this band is that Marc Lucchesi’s voice is amazing, the live performance perhaps even better than the already brilliant recordings. Lucchesi’s habit of dropping out of sight than suddenly popping up with another instrument was also an amusing yet great part of the night. He turned up a saxophone, a flute and a tambourine in the one hour set while also maintaining co-lead vocals. The smile on guitarist Nic Lam’s face just seemed to get wider and brighter as the night went on. A guitar solo at one point had more than fifty per cent of the crowd aiming spirit fingers at a beaming Lam.
Ending on an amazing high with ‘Dirty Old Man (Come Inside)’ the crowd was going insane, singing, dancing and jumping to a song that should be absolutely ridiculous but is crazy, fun and obviously a massive favourite. The night ended to the sound of clapping, cheering and calls for more from a crowd that could not have gotten more from any band.
The Vaudeville Smash will be in Melbourne, performing at the HiFi Bar November 4th. They will be back in Sydney, December 17th at the Kings Cross Hotel venue FBI Social. To see more tour dates and information visit http://thevaudevillesmash.com/
Casey Cunningham