Here's my Kimbra review, written for FasterLouder...
Current “it” girl Kimbra seems to be making all the right moves. She’s seemingly smashed the presumption that the “so hot right now” acts have to fix multiple sell outs of the Corner before selling out the Forum (Cloud Control, Jezebels, Lisa Mitchell, Washington), and to have such a sizable tour to her name so early on is something she can be pretty chuffed about. Here to play songs from her debut, Vows, Kimbra’s show was never going to be a lengthy one, but it certainly proved an exciting one.
Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! were first to grace the stage, with singer *Caitlin Duff*looking better suited for a spot of flamenco than the hard to pin, funky-meets-brooding style of pop the band generated. Possibly just because they fell victim to the first support slot, much of Duff’s vocal quality seemed to be lost, and unfortunately several songs seemed hard to tell apart. Despite showing promise with the technology, the band’s use of a looping sampler was too minimal to be considered too much more than wasteful (Kimbra would show how that thing’s to be used later on); but when the band pulled out their natural talent with three or four part vocal harmonies, that was when they were on the mark.
Next out was Husky Gawenda’s namesake band Husky, who lightened the mood with their gracious and pleasant approach to playing. Simplifying things down from the first act (who had six members) with only the base instruments needed, Husky was immediately appealing lyrically thanks to any sound issues being resolved. The band have collected a bit of attention lately with decent indie support slots, playing the kind of pop folk that Boy & Bear have taken all the local love for of late. Husky’s likeable stage presence certainly held them in good stead though, so only time will tell if there’s room for another indie folkster headlining stages.
There’s really nothing subtle about Kimbra, which, for the most part, is a good thing. Moments after her introduction, it became a battle between fashion sense and theatrics – a fight for which theatrics thankfully won over the crowd. Opening with Settle Down, it didn’t take Kimbra long to demonstrate that she’s a performer with more confidence than she knows what to do with. At 21 years of age, she would be excused for being a little reserved headlining in front of this kind of sizeable crowd. But then, her self-assurance seems to be one of her biggest assets, and the crowd was thankful for that.
It seemed Kimbra had taken more than musical influence from Prince, and between her killer dance moves, super-enthused band and weird sketch projections, she put on a really entertaining, albeit short, set. Adding to the intrigue was her use of vocal samples, most impressive on Plain Gold Ring, with the song bursting well out of its finer recorded shell and exploding in massive layers of Kimbra’s own voice, replayed from minutes before.
If anyone wasn’t sure about whether they could classify Kimbra a pop star or not, her mid set interlude (a sassed up Miles Davis instrumental) gave her moments for a costume change – a classic move if ever there was one. The set continued with a bunch of Vows material and, surprisingly, a new track that Kimbra figured would appear on album number two – a surprising thought, given most artists touring a debut album haven’t managed to think too far beyond getting the current material right. The track, Marigold, came up quite well; a vocal dominant piece that would have slotted nicely onto the current disc.
Cameo Lover finished the set off with a very positive response from the crowd. It serves as an example of pure pop and was deployed with the appropriate upbeat fervour on both the crowd and Kimbra’s part. Her encore took a slight detour from the bouncy fun of the main set, with Kimbra picking up a guitar for the first time that evening and playing Somebody Please – a much more subdued and vocally gentle number.
Kimbra has certainly set up the foundations for her success very quickly. Selling out shows this size in Melbourne and Sydney are signs that she’s got the right stuff right now. Hopefully she’ll keep it up, because more performances like this are worth waiting out for.
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