Eskimo Joe @ Bar Academy, Birmingham – 6th December 2008
Tonight, Eskimo Joe tried to bring a little Aussie sunshine to a country with freezing weather more suitable to their Eskimo name, but could they pull it off?
Australia is a big place, trust me, I’ve been there three times and driven across it twice so I can appreciate what it takes to be a bg band from there. Tonight’s headliners, Eskimo Joe aren’t just big, they’re huge in Australia, having notched up a number one and number two album on the charts there and more Aria awards (the Australian version of the Brits) than you can poke a stick at. Quite why all this amounts to them playing in the Bar Academy venue tonight is a mystery to me. If they were back home they would be packing the NIA, but they’re happy to be here and from chatting to them outside before the doors open, even the bitter cold evening isn’t enough to dent their cheerful demeanour.
The doors open late, which didn’t really bother the small assembled crowd outside (now resembling Eskimoes), but gave everyone a chance to get to know each other and also gave me a new game to play – ‘Spot the English Person’. Before you all think I’m a card carrying BNP member, I’m referring to the fact that us Brits were outnumbered by the Antipodean accents by at least two to one, but I figured that they must be eager to get to the front and it’d all even out later.
First up to play were the support act Underground Railroad, a 3 piece band from France who are now living in London as they pointed out between songs. The vocal duties are split evenly between the female guitarist and drummer / keyboard player so the songs have a very different feel depending on who’s on singing duty. A lot of the songs had a very dark alternative, gothic tone to them and wouldn’t be out of place on a film soundtrack while the lead character walks the dangerous streets at night.
The net result is that the audience who have gotten in out of the cold early stood back from the stage and politely clapped at the end of each song but that’s about all which is a little unfair because for all of the quirkiness of some of the compositions, some of their songs are cleverly arranged and feature some technical drumming from Raphael which reminded me of Fab Moretti of The Strokes in it’s power and precision.
The crowd just didn’t seem to “get” their style of music which was a shame in a way, what they do, they do well, but it was a little too far off-base for the headliners fans to get into. If the audience didn’t fully appreciate the Underground Railway it was nice to see Eskimo Joe sharing a beer at the back of the venue and clapping at the end of every song.
After a hurried changeover Eskimo Joe came on around 15 minutes later than the itinerary time posted on the side of the stage but nobody really minded listening and singing along to the compilation cd of the Stones and Beatles tracks that was playing over the PA system during the break.
Eskimo Joe took to the stage and gave everyone a cheery hello before kicking off with “Sarah” which shifted the tempo up a notch and you realise who everyone is here to see. The band don’t look uncomfortable on such a small stage which is still used to stretching point with Kav, Joel & Stuart all strutting their stuff while playing.
The first three songs were played through with very little rest between them and you really did get the impression that the band belonged on a much bigger stage, it was almost like a “secret, fan-club only” gig which contained all the polish and professionalism of a multi award winning act on a postage-stamp sized stage.
The sound was well balanced although the backing vocals got lost at times, the keyboards taking a wander at others, but both were rectified quickly by the engineer, just in time for the lights to black out completely at the start of ‘This is Pressure’ but these were the only technical faults on the night and at least they got themselves out of the way early on.
Stuart’s lead vocal has a really mellow tone to it, almost like Messrs. Morrison and Blunt and it’s easy to see how they’ve achieved the mainstream success they have back home. He didn’t miss a note all night and totally captivated the audience while the backing vocals (now audible) were used sparingly but to good effect and on ‘London Bombs’ – a track about looking at London from their native Australia, you felt every ounce of sincerity in his voice.
Mid way through the gig the band announced that they were from Fremantle, Australia which got a huge cheer, followed by the question “Is anyone here from Birmingham?” which got a much smaller cheer. It seemed that the earlier ratio of Aussies to Brits hadn’t changed much and that pretty much every Australian expat in Birmingham had shown up, making it a “home gig” away from home.
The band explained that they’ve finished their 4th album, to be released next year, and that they literally “finished the vocals and jumped on a plane to come here” but apologised for not playing any of the new tunes as they hadn’t had time to rehearse it yet.
Rounding off the set with ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ they made their way off stage to re-appear to huge applause for the first encore track ‘Life is better with you’ which sounded like something straight out of Radio 1’s “Live Lounge” – acoustic and beautifully arranged with amazing backing vocals rounding off the sound. Just for the extra sing-along factor they blended the ending into Crowded House’s “Always Take The Weather With You’ which was a nice touch although I’m not sure about the addition of the lap steel guitar which seemed a little messy over the top of everything else.
Finishing off with ‘How Does It Feel?’ and ‘From The Sea’ the band left the stage to massive applause. If the next album gets some mainstream radio play, expect to see them playing the full Academy venue next door next time they’re here.
Review & Photos – Matt Pargeter
Eskimo Joe return to play Birmingham’s Rainbow bar on April 6th 2009