Review – Miles from Nowhere + Genes + Glance

@ Cat & Fiddle Hotel 27Jan00

 

Tonight’s main draw-card, obviously, were the Boys from Brisvegas, down for one night only but with some close personal friends as well as a local bunch. That bunch go by the name of Glance and it wasn’t half-obvious that this was one of their, if not the, first gig/s in a venue such as the Cat. That very observance was confirmed by Barry’s comment that he was ‘shitting his pants’, but a further dig reveals that these guys have been out and about through most of the 1990s, and a further listen proves that this initial impression was far from correct.

 

The press of the week declared that we were in for some atmospheric music, and the opening song was, to say the least, with quite the Jeff Buckley thing running though it. But the melancholy soon ended with sounds akin to Big Heavy Stuff, REM/Michael Stipe, Radiohead, The Cure, Doradus, Police, and Powderfinger weaving their ways in, among and through this set of 45. The turn-out was great for Glance – it’s never a good thing to be opening for anyone at the Cat, especially on a Thursday night, but none were disappointed that they’d ventured out a little earlier. I don’t know that a 6-string bass is necessary for this kind of music, but it sure impressed the hell outta this little black duck, but wearing one of those while pumping out excellent 2-part harmonies didn’t hurt either. Newman and Shadow stood out from a set that started as it finished – nice and quietly.

 

Now that the mood is back down and relaxed a tad, the next band Genes produced a technically slick and professional set but otherwise quite lacklustre, unimaginative in parts and suited more to the old ‘Rock Circuit’ or covers venues. Their Early Hours-Golden Rough/Youth Group-You Am I-Ed Kuepper mix started with a John Mellencamp ROCK in the USA styled song which set the mood for the rest of their slot.

 

While the sound and lighting were of a highly rehearsed standard and the unison singing produced one voice where two were singing from these almost-identical brothers, Nolan on guitar and lead vocals and Morgan on backing vox and bass create a not-overly-inspiring set which is certainly something for the aforementioned rooms, if not the new Alternative Country crowd.  The bass-lines wavered between boring and uninventive and the music in general is, although up tempo, not quite alternative/indie for the crowd they seem to have fallen in with industry-wise. Quite obviously not my cuppa, but I would have been about the only one there on the night.

 

There was a slight delay before those who had travelled 12 hours after two gigs to be here tonight took the stage. Opening with Inside Out, Miles from Nowhere delivered that which we had expected – superb voices: both in rich 2-to-4-part harmony and individually; and acoustic accompaniment which could well have been ‘plugged in’ with the volume at which they play. Imagine how well the show would have gone if they were fresh! Those who stuck around after their band had finished (members, entourage and supporters alike) would not have been disappointed tonight.

 

As always, an excellent performance, with stand-out tunes including Brain which they enjoyed as much as the crowd did: complete with the James Brown ‘Ow! Good God!’ intro; Sister, Genes and Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes (which never fails to impress)! I actually had to drag myself away, which is always difficult for a band of this calibre: these guys rock through their no-dogs set as though they had just driven in from around-the corner; no doubt they will continue to impress just as highly for a long while yet!

PG (Jacky) Gleeson