The Brunettes, Ferraby Lionheart and The Lucksmiths
9/26/07
Schubas Tavern in Chicago
Last Wednesday night at Schubas started off happily enough with the light hearted Australian twee piece The Lucksmiths. I’ve been a fan of The Lucksmiths for a long time and I guess the best way I can think of to describe them is if you took Voxtrot and kept all of the light poppy bits and took out any hints of rock then you would have The Lucksmiths. There are intimations of melancholy but the songs don’t grow too dark in their insights. Some of them have a ring slightly similar to Belle and Sebastian without any of the female vocals. On stage, they presented as pleasant as their music and made the beginning of the evening a lovely one. Though The Lucksmiths were only one of the openers, they could clearly pull off a headlining gig (with a much longer set!) and will hopefully come back to North America to do so before too much time passes!
Ferraby Lionheart provided a slight change of pace to the evening. Playing as a four piece, Ferraby had a unique sound that wasn’t exactly fitting in the singer/songwriter genre because of the more solid presence of a backing band, though the song in which he played the keyboard as a piano was perhaps closest to this. It wasn’t country rock, either even though the pedal steel was distinctive on a couple of tracks. Instead, it was somewhere between all of these things and, though I wasn’t familiar with the songs going in, I could tell he had a dedicated following up front where I was standing. While I was searching for information about him, I found this in his website biography, which I have to admit gives you a small taste of him, though nowhere near as possibly melodramatic that you’d expect: “Ferraby Lionheart wants to be like Gene Wilder. He wants people to care about the planet. He wants people to care about other people. He wants a garden, and some chickens. He was born in LA, although it is often written that he was born in Nashville. This is because he grew up there. And perhaps because his music sounds a little country sometimes. His sister watched Mary Poppins a lot when he was a kid, so maybe that’s why he likes show tunes so much.”
The Brunettes from New Zealand are just so much fun. It’s clear that they really enjoy themselves and what they do. I had seen them around this time at Schubas last year and they actually took to wearing Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen masks. This time around, they sang a long rendition of “The Name Game.” Of course, they are kiwi twee and so melodic and poppy and reminding you of little girls flying kites and eating lollipops…not to mention boys wearing Argyle sweaters. With all of their fun, they always come off as wholehearted and wistful with the male/female vocal interplay really adding something to the songs. The sax, keyboard, and occasional clarinet playing also really complement the guitar melodies of the six piece ensemble, making the structure come together in a way that is both enjoyable and interesting.
setlist:
October 12th, 2007 at 7:31 am
am listening to the brunettes now, via myspace. yep, they’re pleasant & nice – so i guess i’ll hafta leave work early on oct 17 to see their 3:30 set at delancey (never been there). i’ll venture to guess that there will be 36 people in the crowd. and ooh, brunettes have more nyc gigs in oct. thanks kirstie.