Vance Joy, Gossling, Teeth & Tongue @ The Forum, Melbourne (23/05/2014)
It seems everyone these days is musically multi-talented. Why play just guitar when you can play guitar and sing? Why play just keyboard when you can play keyboard and sing? Luckily, these multi-talented musicians including Teeth and Tongue and Gossling found each other in Melbourne and were hand picked by Vance Joy for the final show of his Australian tour.
The first of the hometown group was Teeth and Tongue; the brainchild of Jess Cornelius. For an opening act, the members who filled the stage in order to perform Jess’ vision in a live setting managed to fill the Forum with an enormous sound and polished performance. The addition of digital drums to Cornelius’ stunning vocal range and her wailing guitar enveloped the small crowd, who were seemingly glad that they arrived early (with good reason). There are many varying interpretations of the description ‘powerful’, but Cornelius’ material undeniably fits comfortably within such a category.
Next, local darling Gossling took to the stage, with her unmistakable voice cutting through the excited chatter with a set focused on ‘Harvest of Gold’ as more people arrived to secure their position for the headliner. However, Gossling had her own representation of dedicated fans yelling out their requests from all sides of the crowd; these were warmly received with a smile and a knowing “not yet” thrown in their direction, much to the delight of those audience members. When her voice stands by itself, it’s hard to fully concentrate on Gossling’s performance; as it is so quiet and gentle, with a crowd not there to see her performance and talking throughout, it’s hard to hear all of the notes she hits. The Melbourne sweetheart truly shines in a situation like this however, once her keyboard and vocals are paired with a male counterpart. The intertwining combination of male and female emphasizes just how much of an amazing range Gossling has, whilst the low end drowns out any crowd natter. With the tentative suggestion of a backing band, Gossling has the potential to become one of Australia’s biggest exports.
Once the curtain began to rise with the strum of a guitar chord, twirling hands had already begun to dance in anticipation of Vance Joy’s first sung note. The homegrown hero did not disappoint, as the introduction of his band into his performance ensured that the attention of the entire crowd was directed to the stage in a distinct moment.
Unfortunately, once Vance Joy’s band leaves the stage and he’s alone on tracks like ‘Snaggletooth’ and ‘Emmylou’, it’s obvious that he is new to the touring circuit. There is something lacking in the performance with just him and his guitar, but this need for ‘more’ in his vocals in a large gig setting can most likely be attributed to his beginner status. It’s impossible to fault him however, as he has made himself so incredibly endearing with a smile and anecdotes which happened just a few minutes away from the venue. Furthermore, once his band returned, Vance Joy kicked the setlist into gear with new material and showcased why he’s managed to play to sell out crowds.
If there is one thing that Vance Joy can do, it’s write a catchy chorus. Even if no one in the crowd knew a single song apart from ‘Riptide’ (many obviously didn’t), they would still be able to sing along since the man is incapable of writing a chorus that you can’t nod your head to. ‘Wasted Time’ picks up the pace so fast and so impossibly catchy, it’s hard to believe that the slowed ‘Red Eye’ was just a few short minutes beforehand. However, it was obvious that it was ‘Riptide’ the crowd had come to see, and Vance Joy has evidently accepted this fact with good grace. As the ukulele wrapped around his chest, the crowd began to scream, and failed to let up until the lyrics began which they belted out with fervour. Vance Joy knows that a large part of the crowd turned up just to hear him play one song, and he seems truly satisfied that they’ve even given him that much.
After bidding the venue goodnight, it’s hard to foresee that Vance Joy will be disappearing off anyone’s radar in the near future. However, with the release of his new album in August, Vance Joy may be quickly snapped up overseas; make sure you see him in an intimate capacity as quickly as possible, or live with the regret that you missed out on being a part of his rise to the top.
Jonty Simmons
The first of the hometown group was Teeth and Tongue; the brainchild of Jess Cornelius. For an opening act, the members who filled the stage in order to perform Jess’ vision in a live setting managed to fill the Forum with an enormous sound and polished performance. The addition of digital drums to Cornelius’ stunning vocal range and her wailing guitar enveloped the small crowd, who were seemingly glad that they arrived early (with good reason). There are many varying interpretations of the description ‘powerful’, but Cornelius’ material undeniably fits comfortably within such a category.
Next, local darling Gossling took to the stage, with her unmistakable voice cutting through the excited chatter with a set focused on ‘Harvest of Gold’ as more people arrived to secure their position for the headliner. However, Gossling had her own representation of dedicated fans yelling out their requests from all sides of the crowd; these were warmly received with a smile and a knowing “not yet” thrown in their direction, much to the delight of those audience members. When her voice stands by itself, it’s hard to fully concentrate on Gossling’s performance; as it is so quiet and gentle, with a crowd not there to see her performance and talking throughout, it’s hard to hear all of the notes she hits. The Melbourne sweetheart truly shines in a situation like this however, once her keyboard and vocals are paired with a male counterpart. The intertwining combination of male and female emphasizes just how much of an amazing range Gossling has, whilst the low end drowns out any crowd natter. With the tentative suggestion of a backing band, Gossling has the potential to become one of Australia’s biggest exports.
Once the curtain began to rise with the strum of a guitar chord, twirling hands had already begun to dance in anticipation of Vance Joy’s first sung note. The homegrown hero did not disappoint, as the introduction of his band into his performance ensured that the attention of the entire crowd was directed to the stage in a distinct moment.
Unfortunately, once Vance Joy’s band leaves the stage and he’s alone on tracks like ‘Snaggletooth’ and ‘Emmylou’, it’s obvious that he is new to the touring circuit. There is something lacking in the performance with just him and his guitar, but this need for ‘more’ in his vocals in a large gig setting can most likely be attributed to his beginner status. It’s impossible to fault him however, as he has made himself so incredibly endearing with a smile and anecdotes which happened just a few minutes away from the venue. Furthermore, once his band returned, Vance Joy kicked the setlist into gear with new material and showcased why he’s managed to play to sell out crowds.
If there is one thing that Vance Joy can do, it’s write a catchy chorus. Even if no one in the crowd knew a single song apart from ‘Riptide’ (many obviously didn’t), they would still be able to sing along since the man is incapable of writing a chorus that you can’t nod your head to. ‘Wasted Time’ picks up the pace so fast and so impossibly catchy, it’s hard to believe that the slowed ‘Red Eye’ was just a few short minutes beforehand. However, it was obvious that it was ‘Riptide’ the crowd had come to see, and Vance Joy has evidently accepted this fact with good grace. As the ukulele wrapped around his chest, the crowd began to scream, and failed to let up until the lyrics began which they belted out with fervour. Vance Joy knows that a large part of the crowd turned up just to hear him play one song, and he seems truly satisfied that they’ve even given him that much.
After bidding the venue goodnight, it’s hard to foresee that Vance Joy will be disappearing off anyone’s radar in the near future. However, with the release of his new album in August, Vance Joy may be quickly snapped up overseas; make sure you see him in an intimate capacity as quickly as possible, or live with the regret that you missed out on being a part of his rise to the top.
Jonty Simmons