Elizabeth Rose at Goodgod in Sydney
I arrived to catch Gnome, a brother and sister duo that played songs which sounded a little bit like Toro Y Moi mixed with an Animal Collective kind of vibe. The Sydney group announced mid-set that one of their songs, Picnic, had been selected to accompany the Sydney Festival marketing material and would be heard by thousands next year when the festival comes to town. Kudos Gnome, it’s a cute song, despite the very obvious tagline of the festival plonked into the lyrics.
Next up were Polographia, who were a mix-bag act with fun musical cameos. In one number, a young man jumped onto the stage and began free-styling over the boys’ synths and beats. In another, the lovely Rainbow Chan played her saxophone over a track which added some warmth to the electronic sound.
A nervous looking Elizabeth Rose took some time to set up her gear and stage decorations, consisting of pointy 3D pyramids and soft luminous cloud-like disco balls around her. Small of frame but big of voice, Rose’s nerves soon subsided and the singer, dressed in gold and feathers, belted out tracks from her new EP, Crystallise. Her bassy rendition of Flight Facilities’ Foreign Language was awesome – less disco and more house than the original. She played her breakthrough track Ready, which the crowd clearly enjoyed, but, I found it a little less exciting than the recorded version when compared to some of the other songs in her fine set. Elsewhere, she showed diversity with the new EP’s title track, which had a slower tempo, sultry vocals and a more RnB feeling to it.
The whole evening had been a little random, with surprise rappers and fluffy fluorescent clouds adorning Goodgod’s walls, but, it was nice to see several quality local artists take to the stage in front of a full room of appreciative punters.
Words by Carol Bowditch.
