This past Saturday saw The Paper Scissors reach Jive for the Adelaide leg of their In Loving Memory tour.
With little fanfare, the first supporting band started, and with little fanfare they continued their set, and then finished. Not much can be said of Sincerely Grizzly. However, inasmuch as a support band is primarily supposed to set the stage for the main act, the first band – look them up in the dictionary under ‘generic indie rock’ – succeeded, something that cannot quite be said for the second.
Collarbones, an electronic/(self-styled)‘melodramatic pop’ duo, were clearly in a thrall to the music they were creating and the feeling was infectious, if slightly confused (wait, wait, wait – aren’t we supposed to be at an indie gig?).
Then, bathed in white light, the three members of The Paper Scissors entered. They had a solid start with ‘Disco Connect’ (the opening tune from their new album), which features a mournfully theatrical plea to “leave me the fuck alone”. But of course, with an opening like this, the audience was hardly going anywhere.
A few songs later came ‘Taller Than You Then’, which showcased the rocking mastery this band has over its music. Like a good song should, it swept you up, forcing all present to move to the beat of Xavier Naughton’s tireless drumming. ‘On Your Hand’ a little later was another example of this. There was a real moment of connection between the band and the audience, when the latter, without any overt prompting, engaged in a call-back to lead singer Jai Pyne’s la-la-lahs.
The pre-recorded music that accompanied the band certainly gave their songs a more fleshed-out, ‘stadium’ feel, and hinted at the potential this band has for commercial popularity. Indeed, if the handful of loyal supporters present (neither family nor friends, it must be mentioned) that were rocking out from the get-go was anything to go by, they are well on their way.
But they are not quite there yet.
It may be overly fastidious to mention the couple of sound gaffes, but really, no one likes the sharp screeching of audio feedback. And then there were the pre-recorded backing tracks. Their use was questionable, but there were also a couple of times when the track would start to play before the band was ready. In such an intimate setting as Jive, it sometimes felt excessive, forced even. A live gig does not have to sound exactly like the studio version – one might argue that any gig that did would feel a little flat.
In any case, if you are going to use a backing loop, just remember to turn it off – preferably before you leave after your last song. Bassist Ivan Lisyak’s return to the stage, attempting to sneakily reach the ‘off’ button with a microphone stand, was a touching reminder that this band, perhaps on the cusp of something big, is still just as human as the rest of us.
– Serrin Prior
