Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
With Chit Chat now a boring, unethused and slightly hateful presenter on Music MAX alongside another “man you were awesome in the nineties” figure, Yumi Stynes, it's good to know that Chit's former bandmate, Pinky Beecroft, isn't doing as badly. With a new lineup of his latest vehicle, The White Russians, the eccentric former MGF frontman kicked off proceedings with a much softer and more condensed version of his previous work. Now working as a trio, the band played a set of catchy, keyboard-driven pop that often recalled the style of Beecroft's one-time songwriting partner, Tim Freedman. It wasn't quite the perfect way to kick things off – the crowd numbers were initially small, and Beecroft's voice was just about ready to give out. Even still, it was pleasant enough - and a tender reworking of MGF's classic “Unsent Letter” was one of the highlights of the entire evening, even getting the bar staff singing along. Still a treat to hear after all these years.
Only a matter of weeks after headlining at the Harp Hotel, it was a pleasure to once again welcome The Boat People. The sweet-natured and ever-friendly quartet were all smiles and sing-alongs throughout their set, which kicked off with the strumming sway of single “Soporific”. As with their previous set, it was mostly a Dear Darkly-related affair, with new tracks such as the catchy “Damn Defensive” and “Under The Ocean” performed with plenty of invigoration and energy. A few
sneaky inclusions of older tracks, such as the boppy “Unsettle My Heart” from 2005's yesyesyesyesyes, were more than welcome, too. Setlist politics aside, it's really the enthusiasm for their performance that sucks you into the atmosphere and environment of it all – the Boaties just want get a smile and maybe a dance out of you, nothing more.
Even with such great choices of support act, no-one in the venue could have quite anticipated what was about to happen. With a four-piece band backing him, known as The Awkwardstra, the star of the evening's show strolled onto stage, ripped the mic off its stand and literally had the audience laughing within the first fifteen seconds of him talking. In spite of all his geeky awkwardness, Justin Heazlewood – better known to us as The Bedroom Philosopher – is a comedian and a showman at heart, and you'll get no greater indication of this than in his live shows. Showcasing mostly numbers from the acclaimed Songs From The 86 Tram record, Heazlewood ranted about everything from the ridiculousness of the SNAG (sensitive new age guy) acronym to pretentious hipsters on his tram – and it wasn't hard to get into the spirit of things and promptly laugh one's arse off.
Justin's humour was edgy, on-the-fly and loudly received in giggling fits – especially to those that didn't already know the punchlines. Despite one of the weirdest hecklers you might ever chance upon at the venue – a one-armed, grey-bearded and heavily intoxicated Aboriginal guy – Justin never let it get to him and focused purely on entertaining his audience. “We Are Tramily” saw some improv breakdancing in the middle of the dancefloor, “Sudanese” was memorable for the Awkwardstra's percussion solo and the hilarious “Get Off Me” - an ode to imagine what it would be like to be picked on by an older sibling – even saw the guitarist dress up in a motherly gown and discipline the “fighting siblings”. It's a quickly-paced and entertaining showcasing of Heazlewood's talents, as well as his band's – it's not hard to see why Songs was such a hit at comedy festivals all over.
Finishing with a jammed-out rendition of his ode to TV shows he grew up with,Generation ABC, Justin also lead the Awkwardstra in a hilarious and unexpected cover of The Pointer Sister's ode of their own – to the number twelve, no less, featured in one of Sesame Street's more psychedelic animations. You know the one: “One-two-three four five! Six-se-ven-eight nine ten! Eleven twelve!” Ridiculous? Hilarious? Out of the ordinary? All of the above – like you'd expect any different from the Philosopher.
