Review – Faker + Do + Lamento Suite
@
Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills 28Dec00
I only caught the tail end of the Lamento Suite set – I should really start getting away to these gigs a little earlier! A four-piece with a name that sounds far older than the year they have been together and suggests a muse other than that which is delivered, they describe their own sound as ‘a perfect combination of differential beats, pop and stadium rock’ which ‘creates a melodic vibe’. Gareth, front-person and acoustic guitarist, displays an air of and could easily be confused for Neil Finn and/or Paul Kelly, although looking at the pics online you might disagree… Together with Andrew on electric guitars, Cameron on electric bass and Elmo, beating it up better than most in her trade, male or female provide a sound not dissimilar to Bob Dylan and/or Counting Crows, although the power middle-8 in the penultimate song came from nowhere and left punters gaping.
After quite a slick change
over, Do, a 3-piece
many-influences outfit from the Deep South, made
their debut in Sydney with little to no interest beyond the front row and the
sitters. OK, so most of the crowd that had left were only there for Lamento Suite and most of those that
were left were Faker fans
and, admittedly, it was difficult to get into the stylings of Steve Bosidis (vocals, Telecaster, Rickenbacker, Les Paul, Miller
shirt and all-day morning hairdo), Ryan McLean (listed as
bass and vocals but didn’t sing tonight, looking for all the world like The Captain and Rick
Brewster’s love-child) and Scott Bennett (drums and
general enjoyment of life). It was jingly, poppy and eclectic at once, and
maybe too much of the latter for this crowd. I liked (sorry – no set list) the
one with the Knopfler
Buzzer and gong-hammers, and their Posies
cover. Do can rock. Do can indie. Do can grunge. Do can’t Tim
Buckley. A little disappointing: would have been a better opening
act…
Faker are now a four-piece. Was there a release to say that Marco2000 had left? Maybe it was just for tonight… he’s mentioned in the website but the pic has only four of them…. No matter – Nathan added that to his CV along with Ovation and Mustang and entertaining. Paul’s FX pedals also helped while playing renditions of famous British songs as well. Andrew’s kit was sporting a new pair of ‘Nordic Metal’ horns, according to Chris, providing the comedy relief for the show! The Do/Faker changeover was not as slick as Lamento/Do but the final set of the evening was eventually launched with I Know She Knows from their demo of early this year. The rest of the show ploughed on with blistering punk, sizzling effects, moody rock, radio friendly pop and, in Channel Alex, the most effort stagecraft-wise from Nathan for their shortest (1’24”) song! Faker just go from strength to strength, with audience interaction/acknowledgement (both aspects lacking in to many bands today), emotive showmanship and all-round A-grade musicianship. Do what you can to experience this band!