The warm, softly-lit Workers Club is a pleasant place to be on a rainy, windy Saturday night.
Of course, everything is better with some live music, and that was the case last tonight, with Rainy Day Women hitting the Fitzroy venue as part of their Friends EP launch tour.
Their friends The Red Lights and Neighbourhood Youth were supporting, but sadly, two other scheduled guests were unable to appear. Indie/folk musician Hudson was out with the flu, and Split Seconds couldn’t perform due to “Sean’s exploding bike.” (Your guess is as good as mine.)
The bands who did manage to appear both played peppy, upbeat sets even without their fallen comrades. The crowd didn’t seem particularly eager to dance, but both bands put on a good show regardless.
In particular, Neighbourhood Youth’s members had some good banter going, and their brand of bright indie pop set the tone for Rainy Day Women’s set.
The Fremantle four-piece have done some great things, including playing at St. Kilda Festival, Southbound, and Perth’s Big Day Out, on top of winning an opening slot on the 2013 Laneway Festival.
This year marks the release of their EP Friends, which has been most commonly described as “sun-drenched” and “feel good”.
Apt descriptors indeed. Rainy Day Women have a certain quality to their music, which makes it both upbeat and very, very chilled out at the same time.
Maybe it’s frontman Dylan Ollivierre’s soothing, alto vocals, which often sounds like a musical instrument with the way it blends into the mix. Maybe it’s the very steady, fairly regular tempos of their rhythms, or the lack of extreme highs and lows from the instruments.
Whatever it is, it’s pleasant. It also isn’t necessarily the most exciting gig to watch live.
That being said, there’s plenty that Rainy Day Women have going for them. The titular single from Friends was well-received by the gig-goers, sparking a sizeable dance party at the front of the room, and for the finale, they played the cheery title song from their 2012 release, ‘Sleigh Bells’, ending the night on a high.
The band might not be the most high energy band to grace the Workers Club stage, but they still put on a good show, with some fantastic tunes to boot.
