Review by Tracey Moyle.
Walking into The Bearded Lady in Brisbane’s West End gives you that friendly feeling of a familiar and comfortable place where the locals would just love to meet up for a drink. So it’s a fitting venue for tonight’s gig with Gold Coast based The Goldhearts and friends. All ex-Brisbane locals who are no strangers to the music scene have been friends for over 20 years and have the experience that goes with it. They’ve invited long time friend Adel Pickvance and her band The Chandeliers to support with a last minute entry of young local talent Conspiracy of One.
Tonight see’s The Goldhearts – Margy Joughin and support Pickvance, two very much loved women of the Brisbane music scene and long time friends, take the lead, a change from their bass playing background of bands gone by.
The Goldhearts are Joughin (Dream Poppies, Fatal Four with Ben Salter, Payments in Gold), Tracey Kick (Dream Poppies), Claire Harris (Razel, Dream Poppies, Godnose, The Shortfall) and Daren Williams (Haba Dudes,Secret Assassins). With so much musical experience behind them, there is no doubt we are in for a brilliant night.
On arrival the crowd is small but locals are slowly meandering through to check out the show. Opening the show, Nathan Eggins, main conspirator of Conspiracy of One is on stage with his band and ready give his best performance regardless of the size of the crowd. Described as pop-flavoured funk rock with catchy hooks and danceable grooves; a touch of Tim Minchin’s witty logic; a pinch of Paul Dempsey’s poetic narrative; and a bunch of Ben Folds’ playful sarcasm, I was very much looking forward to hearing this eclectic sound. From the opening See Food Diet, with its quick- witted lyrics and smooth funky guitar sound, I knew we were in for some fun. With Don’t Try This Mindset At Home following, the music was not only lyrically entertaining, the guitar skill of Eggins had everyone in the room awake and listening. Up next the catchy soulful funky rock sound of Just a Theory got the crowd moving instinctively. Even the few sitting down were tapping their feet. A very Jamiroquai feel making everyone smile.. Next up a cover of The Doobie Brothers Long Train Running was the perfect fit to this set. The energy in the room stayed alive with Leave Behind Enemy Lines and then with a witty ode to the neediness of a world hung up on social media Don’t Forget To Like, Nate had everyone’s attention. Finishing strong with the crowd participation on classic rock sound but satirically driven Would I Lie to You getting across in true Minchin style the ambiguous face of consumerism and fake news. With no doubt I will absolutely be returning to see Conspiracy of One again.
After a quick reset Brisbane Indie rock stalwart Adel Pickvance (The Go-Betweens, The Dave Graney Show, Far Our Corporation and Adele & Glenn) and her new band The Chandeliers took the stage with casual ease, looking completely at home in her environment. They opened the set with German on my Mind, a post-punk style song giving us a good strong upbeat number to keep the crowd bopping along to the beat. The mellow pop tones of Looking for Something, off Pickvance’s ‘My White Rabbit’ 2016 album brought an almost ‘Sunny’ atmosphere to a dark room. The crowds smiling faces gave away the mood. Next up Treaure; a great track that brought a bit of a Pretenders – Back on the Chain Gang feel to my musical senses. A cover of Finding You followed and of course a Go-Betweens song is the perfect centre for this set, being such an important part of Adel’s musical journey. The songs continued including a great cover of Buzzcocks, Love You More and more upbeat poppy life inspire songs with guitarist Scott Mercer and drummer Ash Shanahan taking turns at vocals. Pickvance’s music is based on how she sees life in the things around her. It’s relatable and fun. They finished their set with Something Good and City of Sound leaving everyone with that beautiful pop feel of the early 90’s
Again a slight intermission and soon The Goldhearts took things to the next level starting their set with Joughin’s distinctive indie pop/rock vocals claiming It’s You, from their 2016 debut album ‘The Rise and Fall of….’ Next up and immediately showing their versatility was the country pop number, That Line. Tracey Kick stood out showing her honed skills on lead guitar. Then back to the upbeat pop/rock sound of Rise and Fall. The gathering crowd spanning a few generations were completely absorbed in the energy of the show with the more mature, being taken back to that time in the early 90’s when indie pop rock was the soundtrack to life. While, the younger fans seemed to love the innocence of the music, being something vaguely new to them.
Back to a more country feel with Already Gone then straight into a Bluesy On The Run, again with great guitar lead from Kick supported by Joughin on guitar and Darren Williams on Bass. More country/pop vibes with Mucking Around then effortlessly back to the chilled out pop number Not So Nice. A change of guitar for Kick and along with Claire Harris’s drums skills Cry For You took us back to a mellow rock beat keeping everyone moving. They debuted great, up coming release Stars for the first time live, followed by the very poppy Too Late. Then their new single Be Brave again played for the first time live, had the crowd lost in the upbeat momentum of the music and the overall feeling of contentment. A very quick break and back with their lively rock (sprinkled with pop) opening number from their debut album Here’s The Thing. No one was leaving The Bearded Lady tonight without that good feels buzz.
It was a great feeling in that little room, out back of that funky bar in West End. A lot of happy people, feeling that little bit of the missing positivity in music slowly creeping back in, driven by the musical advocates of a time when music could put you in a happy disposition no matter the surrounding influences.
The Goldhearts will play again Friday 3rd May at Vinnies Dive Bar Southport and then head to Dusty Attic Music Lounge in Lismore Saturday May 4th.
