Beth Orton @ The Rosemount
with Vorhees
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Famed for her unique sound and style, having crossed the divide between British Folk, electronica and trip hop (her early work in the 90s included vocals on classic tracks produced by William Orbit and The Chemical Brothers), singer, songwriter Beth Orton has had a long and resilient career.
Over the last 10 years she’d been focussing mostly on the acoustic, folky side of things, verging on adult contemporary, but last year surprised by coming out with a new album Kidsticks that is more electronic-based, and produced by Andrew Hung of Fuck Buttons. It’s the best, most interesting release she’s had in years. So to see her in Perth on a rare tour, playing the new material, along with a selection of her best songs from her extensive back catalogue, was quite a treat for fans on a cold Wednesday night.
And it’s her dedicated fans, who proved their devotion by rallying online to get her to come over to WA for the first date of her Australian tour. The punters came through, putting their money where their mouth was, packing out the awesome newly renovated Rosemount main room.
Those who made it down early were rewarded with a special treat in the form of support act, Vorhees (the alias of NYC sound designer Dana Wachs) who impressed those with her experimental electronic sounds. Orton later thanked Wachs for playing, and also working the mixing desk for her.
There was an air of anticipation in the room by the time Beth Orton came on, as people jostled for position up front. She took her position standing up behind a keyboard, her slight frame covered in a navy onesie overall with pristine white Adidas, giving her the appearance of some kind of athletic mechanic.
Flanked on either side by guitarist/backing vocalist Greg McMurray and Alex Thomas on drums, she started with the fairly sombre Dawnstar from the new album, her mop of hair obscuring her face as she looked down at the keyboard (guitar being her primary instrument) but her breathy voice instantly recognisable.
Falling followed in a similar vein, before the more engaging intensity and exotic sounds of Wave – steel drums and panpipes collided in harmony with her unique voice in full effect. The song also gave McMurray a chance to show his chops – a talented session musician he lent a great dynamic to the performance.
After four new tracks to start the show, she then went back to her 1996 debut LP Trailer Park for a couple songs, with the haunting ambience of the Andrew Weatherall produced Touch Me With Your Love and She Cries Your Name to the audible approval of the crowd. Before she played one of her most beautiful songs solo with just a guitar, Blood Red River from 1999’s Central Reservation. Despite her voice cracking up a bit, it was still a real highlight, and added an extra fragility. You could hear a pin drop – with the more mature crowd being respectfully silent during most of her set, allowing the quiet beauty of the songs to really pervade the room. Young punters take note!
She picked things up with the more upbeat sounds of Shopping Trolley from 2006’s Comfort Of Strangers, before another run of songs from the new album that sounded great live, including the low slung groove of Moon which saw McMurray swap to bass, and the juxtaposition of rumbling sub bass and her choir girl vocals on Petals that rose up to an epic distorted guitar crescendo. The band had really warmed up by this point and found their groove.
This led into the 10 minute epic Galaxy Of Emptiness before she finished the set strongly with two of her most loved songs, the classic Stolen Car and the majestic Central Reservation – the psychedelic groove of which was enhanced by the cool, minimal shadowy projections on the black backdrop. The crowd’s applause was loud and genuine, and Orton seemed quite taken aback as she humbly and charmingly thanked everyone for coming down, commenting that she was so glad she came to Perth.
They left the stage, but very quickly came back for a couple more. Orton picking up the bass, commenting she never really plays bass, before laughing “I probably shouldn’t have admitted that.” She did fine, breezing through the chilled groove of Thinking About Tomorrow, really winning over the audience as she appeared to relax and start having a bit more fun.
After a false start, they finished with the shuffling beat and simple beauty of Call Me The Breeze. While perhaps not a mind-blowing performance, it was still a very enjoyable, intimate gig from a unique talent who continues to follow her own path, and tonight showed she still has many fans keen to stick with her on the journey.
ALFRED GORMAN
Photos by A. Gorman
