It’s always interesting when one of the next “big” bands come to Australia; they generally have one album under their belts and are eager to show what they can do. So sometimes when a band such as this comes to town, you can leave the gig feeling disappointed, let down, that they did not meet the hype. Thankfully, this was not the case with tonight’s band – Britain’s The Big Pink

But before we get into more detail about the main act, a few words on the support acts for the evening. The first of the evening’s line up were locals Emperors, who did a great job of warming up the midweek crowd. The band owned the stage, and like any good support act, did not overstay their welcome. Lead singer Adam was both enthusiastic and entertaining, and his vocals, coupled with Zoe's, added a whole new dimension to the mix. Another positive was the relentless beat coming from drummer Dayvid, who showed great versatility and stamina. All in all, a band I would definitely like to see more of in the future.

The second act of the night was Brisbane’s An Horse, a band I have been meaning to see live for quite some time. Again, they provided great warm up for the growing crowd, which unfortunately was still nowhere near capacity. The first thing that hits you with this band (literally) is the solid and superb drumming from Damon. Yet as a performing duo they gel perfectly, as evidenced by some great on stage banter and a number of solid performances. Highlights of the set for me were "Postcards" from their first EP, which got the crowd moving, and "Scared As Fuck" from the same EP. News that their new album is soon to be re-released under Shock has me waiting with baited breath.

After a short wait, it was The Big Pink’s turn to shine. For me it was a slightly faltering start, or perhaps a slow burning start would be a more apt description. During the opening track there was the sense that both audience and artist were sizing each other up. It’s clear that the bands stint on the NME tour back in the UK has allowed them to hone their live show, and it showed! Both the second and third tracks kicked the momentum up a notch, with the audience getting more and more into it. From "Velvet" (track 3) onwards it was all Indie Bravado with some great guitar playing and powerful drumming. While things kept picking up, there were a few sound issues, and vocals were occasionally lost in the mix, but that didn’t seem to matter -neither to me, nor the rest of the audience, who were now most definitely “into it”. Even with time constraints it never felt like you were being hurried through the experience, the band happy to jam and clearly enjoying the attention on their first Australian tour. 

Unsurprisingly, "Dominoes" closed the show, and received the biggest reaction from the crowd. But then it is a crowd pleaser after all and it was a relief that it sounded better live than I expected. 

Despite a few sound issues, The Big Pink gave a great showing of themselves on their opening night. Even the slower numbers were humming, with a brooding melancholy that was as equally mesmerising as the catchy faster numbers. Let’s hope the band get to work on a second album soon, so we can get them back to Australia and back to Perth!

Setlist:
Too Young to Love
At War With The Sun
Velvet
Frisk
Crystal Visions
Count Backwards From Ten
Brief History of Love
Tonight
These Arms of Mine
Dominoes