The Long Blondes

The night starts with DJ Mark E Moon spinning tunes. There really is not much more to it than that. He is a guy; he plays other people’s songs.

Second support (or first support as I would actually like to label them) came courtesy of Belles Will Ring who offered up some inoffensive rock that at times was reminiscent of everything from the Shins to the Stone Roses. While entertaining they never quite managed to warm the stage up for the show that was to follow.

Somehow I had been completely ignorant of it while listening to the album, Someone To Drive You Home, but on seeing the band in person there is no denying it. From the outfits to the vocal monologues to the fact they’re both from Sheffield the Long Blondes owe quite the debt to Pulp. Singer Kate Jackson even manages to work the stage like a sexy vamp channelling Jarvis Cocker at his best. Obviously I should have joined the dots when finding out the album was produced by Pulp bassist Steve Mackey. But I’m slow like that.

However this is not to suggest that the Long Blondes are that dreaded word derivative, as for every song that treads the Pulp path there is a 'Once And Never Again' coming straight out from a love of pop distilled into a post punk rock out. Amongst many other things, it is this divergence in musical styles which makes the Long Blondes live experience so rewarding; offering a chance to catch your breath and enjoy the musicianship on display before launching off into another disco inflected dancing fit.

There is some good humour to a Long Blondes gig too. When a guitar amp just stopped working it was laughed off and then the audience treated to left handed guitarist Dorian Cox then playing a right handed guitar belonging to keyboardist and sometimes rhythm guitarist Emma Chaplin upside down. And they know how to work a crowd too. Saying you love the Go-Betweens always goes over well in Brisbane.

Touring, as they were, off a first album, the set list was very much what one would expect but the energy of the music and the fun persona of the band suggested a group more than comfortable with rocking a crowd and hints at good things to come. It’s hard to label it Best Gig of the Year when this one did involve seeing a reunited Pixies but maybe not so hard when I name it Best Gig of the Year Not at a Festival.

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