The Jezabels

Saturday 6 March 2010

Venue: Town Recital Hall

Tonight was the re-opening night of Sydney’s Town recital hall. It was one of the most beautiful venues I have ever had the chance to visit. Walking up those big steps (where a red carpet had been layed for the event) into rooms with the highest ceilings, hanging lights and stained glass windows was impressive. There is a massive organ behind the stage that gives an almost church like grandeur feel and a white marble grand stair case that sweeps up from the foyer to seating levels above. As per the town hall website the venue was designed in a ‘shoebox shape, proven worldwide as the ideal shape for hearing western classical music. Based on the classical configuration of the 19th century European concert hall’.

The event was free in spirit of the re-opening but didn’t seem to be very widely publicised reflected in the lack of numbers. Bands that performed on the night included; Jack Ladder, The Jezabels, Decoder Ring and Bertie Blackman. For a good review of Decoder Ring’s performance on this night please visit this fellow blogger House of the Risin’ Sun’s post.

The Jezabels are a 4 piece band from Sydney; vocals, drums, guitar and a keyboard. They’re genre is classic pop sound blended with rock and folk elements. Hayley Mary can really sing. Her voice is truly sophisticated and emotionally raw at the same time. If she was to be replaced I’m not sure if someone else could sing the Jezabels lyrics with her intensity. They have 2 E.P’s out. The most well known tracks would be ‘Disco biscuit love’ and ‘Hurt me’. When both these songs were played the whole band really seemed to light up and come together more powerfully. I have seen the Jezabels play before and Hayley can be a bit stiff at times but she took her shoes off towards the end of the performance and started moving around a lot more. They’re due to support Tegan and Sara for their Australian tour in May this year. I think the Jezabels are still trying to find an audience; not that they don’t have a small one already but they have supported a variety of acts over the last few years and they need to find a larger following that really gets behind them. Interestingly they have received airplay in the United States, where they hit #4 on the most added chart of US college radio in August 2009 so maybe there is something for them to pursue over there.

Follow this link to check out some of their music.