9:00-9:30
The Perth musician Felicity Groom opened up the night, leading with vocals and acoustic guitar. Up on stage with her was Andrew Ryan on the electric guitar. Aside from her solo work, Felicity and Andrew also play together in The Black Black Smoke with three other band members who are Alex Archer, Ian Chater, and Vanessa Thornton. Their other three band members were missing from this gig though, as they were probably over in Western Australia for the WAMi awards!

At the East Brunswick Club, the stage encapsulated a mysterious ambiance, with the lingering effects of dry ice and red lighting. Felicity's voice was strong and sexy. I watched the crowd all moving tightly towards the front, even though the floor space was only a third full. I couldn't find the song name, but she put down her guitar and started playing her autoharp. Her band member Andrew later told me that Johnny Cash's wife, June Cash, was the main lady who made the autoharp popular, and that Felicity was bringing it back!

With the strap around her neck, and the harp across her chest, she held it like a baby. Two hands were used, as the left reached down towards the bottom and held down the white key buttons whilst the right hand was at the top of the instrument strumming the harp strings. The song had a memory evoking feel about it, as Felicity strummed her harp and Andrew strummed his electric guitar, simultaneously getting louder and louder, and more chaotic and dramatic. Andrew brings energy to the stage as his movements resemble that of a rock star, thrusting his body forward and back and bending his knee up into the air whilst gliding his fingers over the strings.

My favourite song was “Finders and Keepers”; the harmonies were perfect and catchy, and I wanted to hear it again straight away. The crowd moved in closer again as this song finished, the versatility in her voice and instrumental skills on the guitar and harp made me appreciate how amazing humans are!

10:00-10:45
Myles Mayo have also been on the national tour with Felicity Groom and Eskimo Joe. Myles Mayo is usually made up of a four piece band from Adelaide, but this time around it was only lead by singer Myles, and Sonny who plays the electric guitar and melodica. Myles said that this tour is the first time that they have played without the other two, and admitted that they both were enjoying it. I don't know if this is a good sign or a bad sign for bassist and drummer back in Adelaide!

Myles Mayo only released his debut solo album in March, titled Watch The Cats Got Your Tongue, after trying something different, after leaving ex-band Special Patrol. His experience in songwriting for Special Patrol shined through in his live set at the East Brunswick Club. As soon as Myles and Sonny took to the stage, the crowd was taken through a journey of story telling. His songs take you through his life history, a song about a road trip up the East coast with mates, to stories about girls in “How You Done Me Wrong”.

Myles Mayo has a strong Australian sound, which is heard through a combination of his accent and story telling. I enjoyed the brand new song which he said is still not named, and had only been the third time that it had been played live. The western sound of the Harmonica filtered through, as Sonny blew into the melodica whilst Myles sung “what's done is done, life goes on”. A motto something everyone should follow.

11:15-12:15
The sounds of “New York” by Frank Sinatra rolled out of the speakers into the lead up to Eskimo Joe appearing on stage. There were clearly some die hard fans who were either angry about the fact that Eskimo Joe hadn't been to Melbourne in a while, or were angry with me because my height allowed me to have a better view of the stage than they did. Some lady deliberately elbowed my ribs throughout the show, and said snide comments throughout the set... I ignored them and figured she just had a bad day!

With this aside, the crowd erupted in applause as Eskimo Joe came to the stage with an extra drummer and keyboardist. The drummer went by the name of Nick Johnson, and the amazing keyboardist by the name of Tony Burke. With simple stage production, the white sheet on the back wall bounced the pink lighting onto the stage as they began their set with their own “New York” following on from Frank Sinatra's.

Eskimo Joe had never played at the East Brunswick Club before, explaining that they didn't even know it existed! The aim of this tour was to downsize the venue, take away the huge stage production and do an acoustic set which was more simple and intimate. Kav explained that the “When We Were Kids” tour started off in summer, when Eskimo Joe were playing an acoustic set at the Norfolk Hotel in Fremantle for whomever would listen. After only three weeks, the word got around that Eskimo Joe were playing at the Norfolk Hotel, and the crowds got bigger and bigger. This is when Eskimo Joe figured it was time to hit the road and share this acoustic show with the rest of Australia.

He said that “When We Were Kids” is a tribute to old songs, playing in unknown places, and making it more personal for fans. This decision may have been a choice influenced by their last touring experience, where they felt they had lost the intimacy, or from fans' experiences of losing the connection due to huge stages, huge crowds, and huge stage production. None the less, Kav smiled and said “We just wanted to get to know you a bit better.”

Many people had their cameras out recording the new single “When We Were Kids”. There were whistles, screams, and clapping when the song finished. Eskimo Joe worked from the energy that the crowd was giving, as everyone starts to yell “Sarah!”
“Okay, we will play Sarah!” Kav said with a grin, and later left the crowd to sing “I think I am falling apart”.

Kav introduced their keyboardist Tony Burke to the crowd, explaining that he only had three and a half hours to learn the whole set. Wow. Kav also explained that the entire set list was chosen from an online voting system that was set up before the tour. Their friend James in the office was responsible for creating graph charts and statistical data about how many votes each song was getting. They played “Don't Let It Fly”, explaining that it had a high percentage of votes, and Kav advised the crowd to make the sound that usually comes at the end of a good speech. Something like “yeeeuuoop”. The song ended in an exaggerated drum roll, with a loud “yeeeeuoop” from the crowd.

Referring back to the graphing system used to create the set list, Kav said that “Planet Earth” had a lot of spikes. Stu said it could also be called an aberration, with Kav saying “A what!?”
“You know, an anomaly,” said Stu. Kav laughed, and reiterated to the crowd that, in other words, it “had lots of votes!”. The guys banged their heads to this song, and the drummer used the tap of the drum sticks to signal to the next section.

Kav emphasised that what started off as an acoustic gig had changed into a 'miniature rock stadium', with peddles, amps, and an extra pianist and drummer added to the mix. After a couple of songs, Kav said “this wouldn't be an acoustic set if I didn't do one, so here it goes...” Kav began to sing “Don't Let Me Down”, and one line in, said “Fuck, I just forgot the first line!” The crowd found this laid back approach hilarious as he asked us for help. We all tried to help by singing the words. The angry lady beside me said to her friend in a sarcastic tone “Why don't we just ask her?” and sniggered, referring to me as if I were not worthy of being an Eskimo Joe fan! I have to admit, the crowd was definitely a lot older than me, but age shouldn't be dependent on who is allowed to enjoy Eskimo Joe's music! Unfortunately, from the very back I couldn't lend my help like the lady next to me suggested, but somebody from the front handed Kav her iPhone with “Dont Let Me Down” playing. He held it up to his ear as he looked up at the roof concentrating on the lyrics and wording them out, “Right,” he said, “nobody gonna sleep tonight, nobody gonna see if you hide...”. Everyone was laughing and clapping as he worded the lyrics out to himself. He gave appreciation to the crowd by saying “Thanks guys, see, we'd be nothing without you guys!” Then bang, the band jammed out the rest of the song. Making me wonder if he had really forgotten them in the first place. None the less, it was entertaining and funny to watch.

As time was creeping up to the end of the set, “Foreign Lands” was played, I expected an instant reaction of excitement but the crowd bobbed their heads respectively and quietly watched in awe. As the song progressed, there was a quieter interlude which was dominated by whistles and applause from the audience. With people still clapping to the end of “Foreign Lands”, their hands moved up into the air and continued to clap all the way through “Black Fingernails, Red Wine”. At the end of this song, the band gave a quick wave goodbye and walked off the stage in preparation for their encore.

And that they did; two more were played for the pleading crowd holding onto every last moment with Eskimo Joe. A new track called “Love Is A Drug”, and an oldie by the name of “From The Sea” were played. In “Love Is A Drug”, Kav focused purely on vocals as he held onto the microphone and moved around, entertaining the crowd like a true frontman does. When “From The Sea” was coming to an end, the three Eskimo Joe members, Kav, Stu and Joel all faced the drums and drove out the last notes for the night. They ended with all five approaching the front of the stage for a bow and a thumbs up before walking off. After the show ended, everyone was able to redeem their ticket for a free EP of “When We were Kids”. From the side, I could see the keyboardist being swamped by family who were extremely excited that their very own had helped Eskimo Joe out on their show at the East Brunswick club.