Body Type \u2605\u2605\u2605\u00bd<\/strong>
Corner Hotel, August 19<\/strong><\/p>\n
Body Type does silly as well as they do serious. Exhibit A: at their headlining Melbourne show in support of their second album, Expired Candy<\/em>, the four band members walk on to the stage soundtracked by the Oompa-Loompa song from Willy Wonka, before blasting off with Holding On<\/em>.<\/p>\n Body Type perform at the Corner Hotel on August 19.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Rick Clifford<\/cite><\/p>\n It\u2019s always a riot with the Sydney band, and they\u2019re tight as ever. Expired Candy<\/em> leans into a poppier sound than their 2022 debut, Everything is Dangerous But Nothing\u2019s Surprising<\/em>, and the balance between the two sonic worlds is well-struck in the set \u2013 a transition from newer pop-punk track Anti-Romancer<\/em> into one of their best, the furious The Charm<\/em>, is especially seamless.<\/p>\n Body Type splits vocal and songwriting duties between three members: Sophie McComish, Annabel Blackman and Georgia Wilkinson-Derums (the group is rounded out by drummer Cecil Coleman).<\/p>\n Each brings a distinctive personality live \u2013 Blackman\u2019s songs, such as Couple Song<\/em> and Albion Park<\/em>, are darker and more sombre, while McComish and Wilkinson-Derums\u2019 yelps drive the likes of Weekend<\/em> and Creation of Man<\/em>. Joyous gang vocals drive Expired Candy\u2019s<\/em> title track, and Miss The World<\/em> \u2013 a love letter to Body Type itself \u2013 is even more fun live.<\/p>\n Body Type is in fine form, and it\u2019s always a pleasure to watch them on stage together,<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Rick Clifford<\/cite><\/p>\n The band is in fine form, and it\u2019s always a pleasure to watch them on stage together \u2013 they\u2019re clearly having fun, and McComish in particular adopts an old-school rockstar vibe.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to fault their performance, but a strangely quiet mix and a half-full bandroom with a mostly docile crowd lets down what could have been a perfect gig. It\u2019s a shame to see the band \u2013 truly one of Australia\u2019s best at the moment \u2013 give so much energy and passion on stage and have it largely unmatched. A smaller, more intimate venue would have suited this show much better, and allowed that dynamic \u2013 normally a fixture of their gigs \u2013 to shine. MUSIC<\/strong> Luke Combs is seriously loved. Some people told me they\u2019d driven from three hours away to be here, bringing along a car full of kids. Others had boarded a flight from Tasmania accompanied by half a cabin of country-loving folks wearing denim jackets and neon-lit Stetson hats.<\/p>\n This sort of commitment explains how the North Carolinian Combs \u2013 despite not being on the radar of many of Melbourne\u2019s music hipsters \u2013 managed to sell out two Rod Laver Arenas within days of tickets going on sale.<\/p>\n Luke Combs sold out two Rod Laver Arena shows within days of tickets going on sale.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Rick Clifford<\/cite><\/p>\n Even before Combs strode on stage, the crowd was ecstatic, singing along to a pre-show soundtrack of Australian rock anthems. His eventual arrival elicited a roar as loud as any you\u2019ll hear at this venue \u2013 including for the likes of Federer and Williams. This set the tempo for a show characterised by the love of the audience.<\/p>\n From the opening number, the honky tonk rocker Lovin\u2019 On You<\/em>, through to Combs\u2019 latest platinum hit, a cover of Tracy Chapman\u2019s Fast Car<\/em>, people in the seated areas were up on their feet, dancing, swaying and singing at full volume. Those on the floor tried desperately to edge closer to the 33-year-old country music phenomenon and his band of slick Nashville session pros.<\/p>\n During his 2016 breakout single, Hurricane<\/em>, the audience investment became even more passionate, a testament to how long some people had waited to see their everyman hero.<\/p>\n The crowd for Luke Combs was one of the most engaged and doting audiences you\u2019re ever likely to be part of.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Rick Clifford<\/cite><\/p>\n Combs in person was just as he seems on record \u2013 an average, bearded guy in denim trousers and a trucker cap who sings about his feelings just as much as he sings about cracking open an ice-cold beer.<\/p>\n There was something comical about witnessing a packed arena of people singing along to the mega-hit Beer Never Broke My Heart<\/em> \u2013 \u201cLong neck \/ Ice cold \/ Beer never broke my heart\u201d \u2013 but while Combs mightn\u2019t be collecting a Pulitzer Prize anytime soon, you couldn\u2019t question the unifying power of this performance.<\/p>\n A few songs earlier, Combs had asked people to raise their hands \u201cif you\u2019re having a drink with me tonight.\u201d The whole room erupted, couples hugged and groups of friends said cheers to one another, while kids younger than 10 let out screams of joy.<\/p>\n Nothing could contain the sheer enthusiasm of this crowd \u2013 one of the most engaged and doting audiences you\u2019re ever likely to be part of. MUSIC<\/strong> Very few figures in the history of music have been quite as fascinating or as influential as Franz Liszt, whose precocious talent for self-promotion and reinvention was mercifully matched with extraordinary pianism, searching intellect and almost endless creativity.<\/p>\n In seeking to contextualise Liszt\u2019s influence through a series of concerts entitled Liszt\u2019s Lance into the Future, pianist Michael Kieran Harvey and his colleagues at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) have brought together a welcome variety of performers and repertory to enrich students and listeners alike.<\/p>\n Opening this bold initiative, Kieran Harvey and ANAM students Reuben Johnson, Matthew Garvie, Ronan Apcar, Leo Nguyen and Po Goh formed something of a relay team to tackle the almost insuperable challenges of Liszt\u2019s 12Transcendental Etudes.<\/em><\/p>\n Pianist Michael Kieran Harvey.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Peter Mathew<\/cite><\/p>\n Each study a musical maelstrom, these performers valiantly attempted to manage fistfuls of notes while giving listeners a mountain-peak view of the composer\u2019s grand melodic conception. The daunting task of balancing romantic abandonment with technical precision, of background and foreground, remains for most a work in progress.<\/p>\n After canvassing Liszt\u2019s virtuosic side, ANAM artistic director Paavali Jumppanen gave deeply considered and tellingly expressive accounts of three short Liszt works dating from the 1880s. Grey Clouds<\/em>, Dark Star! Sinister<\/em>, Disastrous<\/em> and La Lugubre Gondola<\/em> all reveal a composer at the cutting edge of thematic and harmonic development.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Reviewed by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen<\/em><\/p>\n
Luke Combs \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/strong>
Rod Laver Arena<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Reviewed by Billy Burgess<\/em><\/p>\n
Liszt\u2019s Lance into the Future: Transcendental Etudes \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/strong>
Australian National Academy of Music, Abbotsford Convent, August 18<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n