Date: Wed, 26 April 2000 13:20:49 +1200
-----Original Message-----
From: Common, Scott
See a
big photo of scott
at Indigo the night in question.
Sent: Sunday, 15 April 2000
Subject: phuego @ Indigo Review
Indigo is an odd place... seems too big and yet you can pack in a lot of people without it feeling like it full.
That's the way it was for this gig, lots of people without the presence of a crowd.
First up for the evening was stevie Starr, a solo performer with a small backing band. Right from the
opening chord I knew this was something different - not your usual rock
band. Star's voice flew over top of layered guitars and created a more
textured sound than you would have expected from such a small on stage
presence. I almost caught a whiff of Billy Bragg in 'Communist Love Song'
with it's chiming chorus and sweet verse's. Star's material was greeted
warmly - with the crowd seeming to be impressed by the freshness of his
approach and skill of those involved.
...I think Starr's one to keep an eye on.
Phuego's entrance onto the stage was a welcome occurrence with nearly all
eye's in the bar quickly being relocated to the stage. Right from the
opening tom work and bass riff of 'Trench' the flaming lad's (and lady)
seemed to be onto something good and boozy.
The crowd seemed to think so too with appreciative rounds of applause and nod's of the head.
Old favourites showed up in '2 Minute Pop Song' and 'Happy Harry' with the band obviously feeling at home with
their pieces... A few new ones reared their ugly heads too, at least one of
them being a rip-snorting rampage of sex appeal.
George's drumming, as
usual, drove home the songs with a no compromise approach as the bass and
guitars dueled with each other for the centre stage (quite literally I
thought that Paul and Adrian we're going to start can-canning at one point).
helen's voice was as strong and sweet as ever, with her blistering volume
and caustic turns of phrase. As a band they worked like they'd know each
other for all their lives.
I must admit that I only caught the first 3 or 4 songs from the next band,
Dunedin's The Fold, as I needed to crawl back to the safety of my room for sleep. What
I did see impressed me tho, a very strong sound lead by crunching guitars
and the singers strong and spirited voice. They pounded through a couple of
numbers which ranged in ferocity from roaring all the way back down to
crooning...
At this point I sidled off back up the road to my nice warm
room, secure in the fact that rock was alive and kicking, or more to the
point flaming...
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