WASHINGTON

Thursday 11 March 2010

Venue: Brass Monkey Cronulla

Support bands: Rat vs Possum and Scott Spark

I will start this review off with a quote from Edgar Allan Poe “I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.” I shall now commence to write not quite as mysterious as a cat but hopefully not as obviously as a dog.

Support Scott Spark sang solo on his keyboard. It was as simple as - he tried and he failed. His music was without any lustre of potential; boring and uneventful. Rat vs. Possum the second support however were entrancing with their crazy tribal drumming fuelled pop and communal screams. Definitely a band to take a look at (www.myspace.com/ratvspossum).

Washington I am now a convert. When I first saw her at Falls festival I paid little attention as a general musical preference I don’t like female voices in a pop context so I boxed her as just another sweet pop-y girl with no real talent and nothing new to offer. But after seeing her at such an intimate setting I see why she has generated so much attention. Megan Washington took to the stage in a black top with feathers pointing up all around her neck instantly engaging with the audience making a remark about the flexibility of a girl she’d seen at Northies; she had obviously just witnessed Northies very classy (sarcasm) pole dancing Thursday nights. The drummer shared the joke ‘a skeleton walks into a bar and asks for a beer and a mop’ and it must have been a personal joke with Megan as she began to laugh hysterically. Megan’s talking to the crowd and her band throughout the set created a really relaxed friendly atmosphere.

Her songs are catchy; not in a bad commercial radio way designed to be put in the next available advertisement kind of catchy just fun and hard not to like. She played a few songs without the backing band; just her keyboard and a cover of Sublime’s ‘Santeria’ coming across really genuine. She has a strong voice and has already received a lot of accolades; in November 2008 they were announced as Triple J’s Unearthed winners and in December 2009 Megan won the inaugural Vanda and Young song writing competition.

After this headline tour in support of their ‘How To Tame Lions’ EP they are off to Texas to play the SXSW festival (the festival I have dreamed of attending for the last few years and will one day attend). Many bands generate a lot of attention after playing this festival and go on to do great things. I wish them the best. I personally don’t intend on buying their album once it’s released as it’s not really my thing but I think once an album is released it is sure to be a success. And if I get the chance to see her live again I would because she provides the bang for your buck as far as entertainment is concerned; her personality shines through and sells the live show.

Listen to Washington here.