Holly Throsby
w/ Felicity Groom, Telete
Mojos Bar
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Opening the evening was the little group formerly known as Golden String, who have now changed their name to Telete. Quite popular around these Fremantle parts, they were given a warm response by a crowd that appeared to have been won over by Telete’s wonky pop songs even before they arrived.
Once an artist that you could see on a weekly basis, Felicity Groom has been relatively absent by comparison over the past year or so. Tonight’s performance shows that she has lost none of her verve. There were cracking pop songs like Better Days and Oh Jesus, which Groom said is being used in an ad to sell expensive jewellery. Andrew Ryan adds the flavours with his adept guitar playing, but also took time to sit behind the kit for a few songs, when he wasn’t offering comical banter. Showcasing a lot of new material that has been created on a schedule that revolves around her two young children, the next generation are clearly an influence with songs like I’ll Be Your Beacon looming large.
Midweek shows in Perth are not the cheapest proposition for a touring band, and with long time friend, collaborator and drummer Bree van Reyk having giving birth the week before, the full band experience was not an option this time around for Holly Throsby. Joining Throsby on stage for this intimate duo show was guitarist Tim Kevin, who was also the producer on her latest album After A Time.
With a new album to promote, Throsby set about playing half a dozen songs from that record. Her ode to the outdoors, Gardening, was a gentle opener that saw a pensive performance wrestle with the hum of the crowd. Current single Aeroplane was stripped back to its bare essentials with Throsby’s vocals showing their rarely matched grace.
It was clear that this would be a night for the crowd to gather close to the stage and to breathe in the supple beauty of the songs on offer. Throsby reminded those that wished to talk through the set that there is a lovely beer garden at Mojos that they could retire to. The majority of the crowd reinforced this sentiment to the oblivious offenders.
It isn’t often that Throsby has used an electric guitar, so her shiny new Dan Electro was a pleasant surprise to add some gritty tone to Mountain and the potent Be You Lost. The duo setting gave Throsby the perfect opportunity to mine through her earlier releases and play tunes that haven’t been given an airing in some time. Throsby joked that her first album was written before the invention of electricity as she unveiled Some Nights Are Long with its skewed phrasing and circular melody.
Having recently done a guilty pleasure segment on radio, Throsby was goaded by guitarist Kevin into playing Wicked Game which was met with a far more feverish response than was expected by the Sydney singer. It was Up With The Birds and Making A Fire than ended things on a high note for long time fans.
Throsby had an internal struggle about how she feels about the inevitability of the construct of encores, but relented to give the crowd a little bit more. It was a night where Throsby was able to regale tales about her new novel, the design of a new beer cosy and show of her prowess that was built behind counters at video stores in inner Sydney while shifting merchandise at a rate of knots. Throsby may be understated in the way she goes about her music, but there is no denying her talent for a tune.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
