Friday night I went to the The Met Up Late at the Queensland Art Gallery and oh what an amazing night it was. Holly Throsby and Bree did their thing very well on a little stage in the watermall. I am very impressed with the video on my camera! It was quite a nice experience sitting/standing on the edge of the water watching and listening.
American Impressionism & Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from the Met, just the title of the exhibit alone alludes to the size of this exhibition. There was eight (?) rooms at QAG all filled with wonderful art, broken into themes such as Cities, The Countryside Abroad, Studios and Portraits, etc etc and then with each theme they had a few Australian works from the same era. It was really good. My faviourite artist from the exhibit would have to be Childe Hassam. Two of my favourite pieces of his from the exhibit were Broadway and 42nd Street and Peach Blossoms—Villiers-le-Bel. The final piece in the exhibit is Northeaster by Winslow Homer and it was very impressive. It was hung at the end of the final three rooms so each time as you moved from room to room you see the painting at the end of the exhibit. It was really well executed.
Holly Throsby, man oh man what I can say about her and her duo of support (Bree van Reyk and Jens Birchall). I went on Friday night for The Dwarf and I went back on Sunday night to see her again. I have known who Holly is for quite a few years now and have adored her version of Not the Girl You Think You Are from the Tim and Neil Finn tribute Album She Will Have Her Way. However I have never gone to a concert, I have thought about it many times nor I have listened to much of her work. I did have a brief listen on Myspace before the gig on Friday night to brief myself a little but in all honesty listening to them on Myspace didn’t sell me on her. Clare was hoping to come along on Friday night as she was already in the Valley but by the time she got to the door the gig was sold out. I grabbed some floor space down near the front and caught the last bit of the support band Firekites and in all honesty I can’t remember much of their set three days later. By the time the support had finished the Troubie was filling up nicley and the security man walked through the sea of people sitting on the carpet and told us all to stand up and with much protest we all stood up. Then Holly came on stage and after she had said hello, a few people yelled out “Can we sit down?” to which she answered “I don’t care” and on that last word, everyone collectively sat down again. To which Holly made a few comments about that now she feels really tall.
A couple of seconds after she started singing, I sat up a little bit straighter and took a deep breath. Man oh Man, where I have been? Such an incredible sound, the little trio, soon to be known as Holly Throsby and the Hello Tigers (as of Sunday night) were just so tight in their sound, it sounded like there was just one person on stage. One of the sweetest things or perhaps I should say one of the nicest things was that at the end of the gig, it was Holly and Bree who were the merch stand and as I bought On Night on Friday, I told her that I had been meaning to go a gig for years but never got there and tonight she had blown the expectations I had for the gig by about 1000%. I was so sold that two nights later I bought the other two LPS A Loud Call and Under the Town and I would have bought a shirt but I don’t do black shirts.
The set list for Friday was as follows
1) And Then We’re Gone
2) A Widow’s song
3) Now I Love Someone
4) On Longing
5) Don’t Be Howling
6) The Time It Takes
7) One of You for Me
8) Would You?
9) Some Night Are Long
10) Warm Jets
11) Berlin Chair (You Am I Cover)
12) Things Between People
13) What Becomes of Us
14) Up with the Birds
15) Making a Fire
16) A Heart Divided
17) The Shoulders and Bends
Friday blew me away but Sunday was bliss, a lot slower, a lot calmer, more talking and the music just leading the night away.
Set list for Sunday was as follows
1) To Begin With
2) If We Go Easy
3) On Longing
4) Now I Love Someone
5) The Time It Takes
6) One of You for Me
7) A Widow’s Song
8) Don’t Be Howling
9) Come Visit
10) Things Between People
11) Berlin Chair (You Am I Cover)
12) What Becomes of Us
14) Up with the Birds
15) Making a Fire
16) A Heart Divided
17) The Shoulders and Bends
There might have been one or two songs that were changed around but my lists are from the set lists that I picked up off the stage at the end of the shows.
The Troubie whilst I love it and love it and love it is not a venue that is at all friendly for people wishing to take photographs. The lighting is two lights and a floor lamp but I wouldn’t change the fact that there is comfy lounge chairs, carpeted floor to sit on and a trendy bar. There were just so many cute, quint, funny bits that just made me smile. At the show on Sunday night, Holly asked if anyone had come to the gig on Friday night and raised my hand ever so slightly and she said that she had been thinking about wearing the same dress tonight but decided against it just in case people such as my self from Friday turned up on Sunday as well. Next time Holly Throsby is in your town make sure you go! If you don’t and I find out, well it may not be pretty.
Here is a youtube video of Holly doing Berlin Chair, the You Am I cover at the gig on Friday night. This user also has a few more videos from the two Brisbane shows.
Another thing I can’t contain my love for is the design of the CDs. All three follow the exactly same design for the CD and sleeve artwork. It is just perfect! Such a tiny thing like the fact that the
