Reviews

Fri 21 Sep 2012

Grandfather Alps, Hunting Bears and Two Cartoons @ Re:Fuel, 19/9/12

Grandfather Alps, if you do not know them, is a three-legged musical stool: Ryan (voc, g, k), Chris (perc) and Pania (b, voc). Each leg contributes an equally clear and skilful texture to the band’s sound, which would surely collapse if one of its legs was removed. Ryan makes a good front man, who unlike countless other Dunedin front men and women (front people, sorry), is mobile and actually interesting to watch. Fine tuning of lead vocals would enhance the band’s commercial appeal, but this is a lesser issue with support from the full band and backing vocals. The male & female layers in vocal support made this band particularly memorable, more so with Ryan’s falsetto which came in at times. The percussion, too, was a highlight of the performance for me – I’d almost forgotten how much I like cowbell. Would recommend Grandfather Alps towards the end of the night when it’s time to slow down your drinking and enjoy some decent music!
There is one sure way to compete with audience conversation, and that is to smash their ear drums with a full-band hammer. Think power chords. Think volume. I wouldn’t recommend opening a set with a slow solo number, which only after about two minutes finally gets people’s attention when the full band comes in and drowns out the chit-chat. Hunting Bears might enjoy devising a number specifically for this purpose. Some of their later songs – the names of which I missed, but which were largely very heavy – might be better opening numbers in future. However, Hunting Bears was received quite positively at Re:Fuel, as should be expected. Maddy’s vocals never fail to command, and Josh’s guitar solos were thrilling. Dunedin seems also to have many many great drummers, one of whom is Sam Holdom. The band did inspire the internationally uniform ‘encore’ chant, which I’m sure any band appreciates.
What can I say about Two Cartoons that you have not already read? Well, all I have to add is this: refinement. Sound, song writing, harmony, everything. Two Cartoons stands out as an audience favourite in Dunedin, as was evident by their excited audience reception at Re:Fuel on Wednesday, the likes of which I had not seen at this venue before. Both Brad and Isaac are great to watch on stage, for they too move around and do stuff. I’m sure I am not alone in saying I look forward to their new EP which is forthcoming. One song which was not introduced with a title, but which was introduced as the ‘favourite’ from the new EP, will undoubtedly remain in people’s heads for hours.
Thanks to Re:Fuel, the bands, and all the staff for a great gig.

By Andrew McLean