The first date of the Double Vision Tour – in which fellow Melbourne bands The Delta Riggs and Money For Rope co-headline – took place at Northchote Social Club last Thursday. Opening the Melbourne date was the promising local troubador Fraser A. Gorman who has previously supported the likes of Mark Lanegan, Simone Felice and The Cruel Sea.
Playing tunes from his upcoming debut album along with covering of a song written by friend Stu Mackenzie from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and performing a beautiful rendition of Gillian Welch’s ‘Red Clay Hero’, Gorman was accompanied by beautiful vocals and fiddle courtesy of Sophia Lubczenko.
The small but growing crowd, made of a significantly large proportion of Gorman’s friends (as he kept pointing out), witnessed an impressive set which was closed by his original ‘Last Four Dollars’.
The disappointingly small turnout at the Northcote was also noted by Elliot Hammond of The Delta Riggs, who followed on from Gorman.
Giving it their all regardless of the size of the audience, the band, who have previously played at The Nortcote in support of Devin and Stonefield, were in fine form with Hammond’s stage presence as entertaining as ever.
Performing tracks such as their break-through tune ‘Counter Revolution’ and ‘America’, it wasn’t until their second last track, ‘Money’ that the crowd really began to get into the set, but sadly by then, as Hammond stated, it was all too late; “Northcote, you fucked it up! You had seven songs and you’re only getting into it now?” scoffed Hammond.
The energy on the stage, which was not only generated by the passionate five-piece but also a large amount of denim and sweat, was high – but it was clear that it could have been an even more impressive performance if the crowd had embraced the fact that they were viewing a band that has effortlessly stepped in to the pub-rock shoes left behind by bands like Jet.
“Double drums coming up!” shouted Hammond, referring to their co-headliners Money For Rope – the six-piece blasting onto the stage, with high spirits and energy which seemed to transcend into the audience.
While shirts slowly disappeared throughout the set, hits with the crowd included the set’s second song ‘Ten Times’ and ‘Misery Lane’.
Money For Rope’s infectious beats – aided highly by the double percussion and guitar – along with the four-way vocals made it hard for the audience not to dance along and the crowd was really enthusiastic – which was welcomed considering they were disappointingly still during the previous acts.
While the performances from each act was impressive, there was an awkward air about the night, which was enhanced by the fact that The Delta Riggs were clearly disappointed by the crowd’s lack of involvement.
This aside, the performances from each of the night’s acts were enjoyable and by the end of the night the crowd were clearly enjoying it.
– Eva Dent
