Live review: Max Frost in Sydney
Max Frost hit Newtown Social Club last Thursday and fulfilled the expectations of everybody who attended. Accompanying the multi-instrumentalist all the way from Texas, was Lanks from Melbourne.
Percussion was the backbone of the night; both acts had such precision and flavour when it came to their drummers. Some of Lanks’ songs took on such a punkish format, which meshed so well with the rest of his set.
What made Lanks (pictured, below) stand out was the performance of his collaboration with Just a Gent, Heavy as a Heartbreak. From the first chord you could see the atmosphere in the crowd change. Then as if a scene from Anchorman, Lanks pulls out a flute mid-song and that is when the crowd really lost their shit.
After a little Otis Redding in between sets, Max Frost rushed the stage with his band of three, who together probably played about 20 different instruments on the night. Max glided through his catalogue, jumping from instrument to instrument. Ticking boxes, as he showcased that it’s possible to solo on an electric guitar while you still have an acoustic one strapped to your chest.
Roses by Outkast made an appearance and truth be told you probably could have heard the crowd chant every single word if you were standing out the front of the Enmore Theatre. He closed on the song everyone thought he would have, and it couldn’t have got a better response. The acoustic guitar came out and everyone knew White Lies was a force to reckoned with.
After the show when asked what was it like to be in Australia for the first time (even with Sydney’s nightlife in the state it is in), he responded “It’s pretty insane man, this place is amazing, I mean, the music culture here is a little bit more ahead of America in a way. It’s a little less self-conscious about itself; it’s a better place to be.”
Max Frost, a great human and an even better musician.
Words and pictures by Travis Jordan.
