Live Review: Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – Metro Theatre (24.01.12)

There are some genres that will never die. They are the genres that paved the way for “Rock and Roll” as we know it today: Blues, Swing, Rockabilly, Jazz, Country and so on… and the reason we know it will never die is because not only do bands like Kitty, Daisy and Lewis – siblings from North London – exist, but they can pack out venues like the Metro in Sydney and have a thousand people dancing and singing along to every song.

With their debut self-titled record, the trio (accompanied on stage by their parents and the “legendary Jamaican trumpet player” Eddie “Tan Tan” Thornton) lent heavily on these 1950s American influences, such as in covering Johnny Horton’s “Mean Son Of A Gun” – which made an appearance in their encore at the Metro. Though this influence is heard further throughout their latest record, Smoking In Heaven, there’s a lot more jazz here and a little less harmonica (performed beautifully by Kitty), as the band employ greater use of the trumpet and their burgeoning songwriting abilities.

The first half of the show was focused on the new record, and so we got to enjoy quite a lot of trumpeter Eddie “Tan Tan” Thornton, shooting through tracks like “(Baby) Hold Me Tight” and “Tomorrow, I’m So Sorry”. The trio themselves, meanwhile, were jumping between instruments like it was a game of musical chairs. Kitty shined brightest on the harmonica, while Lewis and Daisy had their greatest moments on the guitar and drums, respectively.

“What Quid?”, “Hillbilly Music” (featuring a whole heap of banjo) and aforementioned “Mean Son Of A Gun” closed out what was a very entertaining night. The crowd was dancing with whatever space they could find, and this family band took us back to the 1950s with ease. In an age of digital recordings, autotune and DJs, it was refreshing to see such talented musicians embrace the music of the past and perform it with such grace and love.

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are performing on the Big Day Out tour. Smoking In Heaven is out now.

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.