Even the most well-seasoned musicians will tell you what an onerous task it can be to get a seated audience up and dancing. However, this was no challenge for Melbourne’s own “riff rock” trio Dallas Frasca at their intimate gig at The Toff In Town last Saturday night.
The set kicked off with the strong, crisp rock n’ roll sound for which the band is known and loved, much to the delight of the audience – made up of mainly longtime fans.
Playing an exclusive one-off acoustic set in the band’s hometown, the “Naked – Sound Painter Unplugged” show laid tribute to the album that took the band to new levels of worldwide success, including a record deal with French label Verycords. The intimate setting at The Toff was much smaller than the venues that Dallas Frasca have become accustomed to playing in recent times – all to the benefit of everyone in the room, who were able to get up close and personal with the band.
After a few well-charged songs to rev up the enthusiastic crowd, the three-piece slowed things down with an old-time favourite, the soulful ‘Thirst For Love’ with violin accompaniment and extra backing vocals. Next was a transcendent cover of Jolie Holland’s ‘Old Fashioned Morphine’, which truly displayed the strength and sultriness of Frasca’s powerfully raw vocals, as well as guitarist Jeff Curran’s incredible beard mandolin work.
The singer proclaimed that the night marked the celebration of the end of one chapter in the band’s history, but also the beginning of a new one. After the success of their sophomore album Sound Painter and the news of a soon-to-be-released new single, the band have set themselves up well for the launch of their new album, Love Army, due out this year.
Completely independent, the trio has set themselves the task of raising $20,000 to fund the LP recording and release through a Pozible campaign. For a donation of a mere $20,000… you can shave off guitarist Jeff’s beard. Really.
Drummer Zane Rosanoski helped pick the pace back up with a few fast tempo rock n’ roll favourites, including set highlights ‘Freedom’, ‘Anything Left to Wonder’, and ‘All My Love’. Combined, the trio have an undeniable chemistry and a refreshingly relaxed stage presence, which makes it no surprise to learn that they have played well over 600 shows together including Falls Festival, Big Day Out, FestivalOf The Sun, Apollo Bay and Queenscliff Music Fest, as well as International Earth Day (Canada) & Les Nuits de La Guitare de Patrimonio (France).
The easygoing atmosphere teamed with the banter between band mates made it clear that the Melbourne three-piece were having just as much fun as the rest of the room. A final encore saw Ms Frasca ditch her microphone and set out into the audience with a spine-tingling, solo a capella performance – a truly inspiring finish.
Read Dallas Frasca’s ‘5 Golden Rules For International Touring’ here
