To have songs written in your darkest place transformed on stage by some of Australia’s best musicians can be full on, and performing them live on the road with a brand new band can also be pretty testing, but Simon Starling was up for the challenge.
The first of two launch shows for Starling’s debut album Semaphore at the Northcote Social Cub was the first chance to since the album dropped to hear the songs that were produced so divinely by Steve Kilbey (The Church) performed live.
First band up was Head Honcho with rock and roll compositions from very talented musicians featuring an amazing violin rock-out. Their cover of The Cruel Sea’s ‘Down Below’ was a highlight, done so perfectly without lyrics, yet the essence of Tex was somehow in the air.
Kilbey himself made an appearance, but not in musical form, instead opting for a spoken word piece (and then pointing out the absurdity, because what else can you speak but words?). His reading left the audience both bewildered and delighted – yet always laughing.
Topics ranged from his double set of twins, Ed Sheeran’s sell out shows, vegan life, bonsai plants, organic zucchinis, nude beaches, Swedish pop star daughters, and gruesome head surgery.
Finally Kilbey spoke about Starling and the production process of their record. Revealing that the time of the album’s production was the worst of his life so the album really means something to him, and the personalities of Starling and Wes Gregorace were something special.
Semaphore is a well produced record and features a huge array of musicians, so translating the music to a live setting and stripping things back with a different group of musicians was a new hurdle for Starling – one which they overcame well.
With the exception of a few technical issues, the band slipped seamlessly into a live set and the songs translated well on stage.
Starling’s voice is really something else and as Kilbey described, “even when he’s singing ‘Day Break I’m Alive’ it’s still so damn melancholy.” This is the essence of Starling’s songs, written in a dark place with hope.
Of particular note was ‘Greenfields’, a stunning song with long instrumental sections perfect to jam to on stage and lead single ‘Lovebirds’ which fills a room with that same hope it was written with. The couple of b-sides added to the live set created a sense of highs and lows that the album couldn’t, and truly filled out what was a wonderful set.
– Tess Armstrong
