Supporting acts – responsible for setting the mood, warming the audience up and then keeping them entertained for the first two hours of the night – have the potential to turn a good gig into a great gig.
Ideally, they will be similar enough to the main performer that the audience will almost definitely like them, but different enough that you aren’t just listening to a watered down version of whatever you paid to see.
On Thursday night, the choice of Francolin and 44th Sunset to support Jinja Safari achieved just that. Linked by the thread of indie pop that ran between all three acts, there was nevertheless enough variety, and quality, to make the night hugely entertaining from beginning to end.
Fresh-faced locals Francolin specialise in quirky, sunny pop. An instantly likeable, easily digestible five-piece in the vein of the Kooks, their feel-good tracks would make an excellent soundtrack to a breezy beach holiday.
Best of all, much of the melodies were given to the trumpet player – who was wearing, bizarrely for Melbourne, a jumper for the NRL team Parramatta Eels. He handled the slower brass hooks, running smoothly over the top of crisp, whimsical guitar lines.
44th Sunset begun with a surprisingly sparse and dark opener, especially compared with the summery sound of their predecessors.
This was not, however, an indication of what the rest of the set would sound like, as the band dipped into everything from wailing, Soundgarden-esque grunge to cheerful pop hooks.
Unpredictable and versatile; the common denominator of their set was the freewheeling, rock n roll stage presence of vocalists Jess Clancy and Nik Thompson.
“We heard that Melbourne people were too cool to dance,” Thompson teased the crowd, which turned out to be mostly true – but that didn’t stop his own fearlessly silly moves from coming out, both grooving sixties-style and convulsing like a rock star in turn.
Jinja Safari began their set with little fanfare, barely visible in a haze of smoke and red lighting. The first thing that captures you about this band is the driving thrum of the percussion, providing a constant, exhilarating undertone to Marcus Azon’s clean vocals.
Far from just a thudding 4/4 rock beat, rhythm is at the forefront for much of Jinja Safari’s music. As well as making for interesting listening, it also means it’s virtually impossible not to move to these songs.
Azon is a natural frontman, and he was in fine form at the Toff. His accessible vocal tones slipped easily into a natural falsetto, playing with the exuberant guitar lines and upbeat picking like kids in a park.
Then there’s Pepa Knight, the multi-instrumentalist who bears an uncanny resemblance to Jesus Christ. Throughout the course of their set, he took turns on a mandolin, a tambourine, and a large drum, which he waved about in the air as though it was a much lighter instrument.
It’s these two that do the bulk of Jinja Safari’s songwriting, responsible for the double whammy of making music that is technically proficient and simultaneously a lot of fun. Blending elements from all over the world (but especially from Africa,) they have managed to introduce this music to the more mainstream indie pop beloved by much of their fans. Their energy is uncontainable, and contagious – intertwined with messages of positivity and getting back to nature.
Typical of Jinja Safari, they brought their support on stage to dance with them for the encore, in one big inclusive party. Make sure next time they come to town, you join them.
