For a lover of the Melbourne music scene, there’s nothing quite like hitting the town for a night of live and local tunes. On a relatively balmy Friday night, Royal Parade headlined a massive show at the Penny Black in Brunswick as special tribute show to thank their supporters, with special appearances from Glory Land and The Tealeaves.
Glory Land opened with some smooth melodic rock and sweet three part harmonies but there was also an upbeat country-blues-esque number which was particularly enjoyable. The front man projected a lot of energy through his slightly eccentric dancing, although the rest of the band lacked a bit of audience interaction.
Melbourne rising stars The Tealeaves have only been around since 2008 but are no strangers to the stage. They have a familiarly warm sound that has a distinctive shade with its flowing lyrics, violins and accordions. Led by the musical genius that is James Van Cuylenburg, the seven piece folk group presented a handful of fun tunes that were just charming to watch. With a debut coming out in February and slots at the Queenscliff Music Festival as well as Port Fairy, they made fitting special guests.
Royal Parade finally hit centre stage to a packed room and despite the general stuffiness of the venue, diehard fans relentlessly shouldered their way to the front, closing in on the stage. Opening their set with the classic Warm Wood it was clear we were in for a big one with bassist Adam Keenan climbing atop his amp. What followed was a night of awesome music, including two relatively new tracks in Smoke Clears and You Need This which had all the elements of a great foot-to-the-floor rock song. Perception came next and then Dumb Things. Walking On was filled with honest lyrics built on a few simple piano chords and clever guitar rhythms which was particularly pleasing on the ears.
Although they’d already played six songs, Royal Parade weren’t even halfway through their set yet, slowing the night down with a mini acoustic set. Front man Josh McDonald said they wanted to “self indulge” and played a slow, guitar laden tune (courtesy of Dave Simmons) in Sunrise. Although you’d only expect to see acoustics at the local pub on a lazy Sunday arvo, the crowd was still deeply immersed in the melodious sounds and the band still had plenty of swagger. They then backed that up with a duet between McDonald and keys player Damien Ball. The pureness of this duo really captured the sweetness of McDonald’s vocals without being shadowed by driving guitars and thumping drumbeats. Together with their harmonies, the two created a beautiful and intense sound that just glided ever so gently – it was simply a magical moment of the evening.
The seasoned performers then kicked things up a notch again with some rollicking tunes in the second half of the set. The Victim and the Martyr was a heavier rock piece that had punters wildly jumping along. This gave the evening a very ‘festival-like’ feel to it and there was a great band to band interaction as well as a band to audience interaction adding to Royal Parade’s incredible on stage presence.
At Any Other Time and Time To Go Home were another two very fun songs – seemingly a nice trademark of Royal Parade. But in contrast to the lyrics which were very amusing (and which many can relate to!) it certainly was nowhere near time to go home for the mass of enthusiasts who were still rocking pretty hardcore.
Then there was the moving tribute to co-founding member Leigh Herrick. Celebrating their friend, Leighving was wrapped in a bundle of warmth and passion yet still had plenty of drive for people to dance along to. The song again highlighted McDonald’s flexible vocal range accompanied by the gentle strums of the guitar and end elegant piano. Winner was filled with gorgeous melodies melting together in an explosive infusion of witty lyrics and cool guitars. And with three strong vocalists, it was a terrifically fast paced, dancey track with a good smattering of dreamy harmonies.
Lifting the roof with the rollicking Games to close off their set, fans hadn’t had enough, raucously demanding an encore. Like all good bands do, Royal Parade stepped back under the lights, playing Breaking Down to bring out an incredible show. The music was intense and the band was tight all evening. It was impossible to be an unsatisfied Royal Parade fan that night and they are definitely worth seeing again.
Tags: live
this to the attention too Leigh Herrick.
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