When I heard of the Hopetoun Hotel closure, my initial thought was: “What’s going to happen to the Tiny Vipers show?” I had, after all, been looking forward to the show for some time, discovering Tiny Vipers via a Sub Pop tweet about her touring her latest release, Life on Earth, in America. Thankfully, the good folks at BJB Studios welcomed the gig to their small performance space.

The room was essentially a small, hollowed out apartment, with a different sort of ambience to your typical venue. Firstly, The lights were dimmed and not off - but there weren’t any stage lights as there was no stage. Secondly, everyone was seated: not on chairs, but crossed legged on the floor.

By the time I arrived at BJB, I had already missed Guy Blackman and Seaworthy due to work commitments. For the few numbers I witnessed of Rand and Holland, I was impressed. They were able to keep the crowd entranced in their music. The songs slowly working their way from start to finish, with carefully spaced out lyrics.

It wasn’t till about 11pm that Jesy Fortino aka Tiny Vipers took to the front of the room. At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking it wasn’t her, with the voice of someone well beyond her years. She is also quite small and looks younger than she probably is. Sitting on the ground for the entire performance was quite painstaking but worth it. The show had a vibe that we were being taught to, reminiscent of days long gone in kindergarten classrooms.

Her performance was nothing short of phenomenal. It was obvious that she had worked on her folk music sound for a long time, doing nothing short of perfecting it. The guitar work was great, mixing together picking and finger styles, and at the same time playing long winding beautiful melodies.

All in all, what a nice way to spend a Thursday night: sitting on the floor, enjoying the minimalistic acoustic stylings of Tiny Vipers.