Play Like a Lady

I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of live music this year, significantly more than in recent years. 2016 seems to have been the Year of Music because I cannot count the amount of banger singles, album drops, tours and general awesomeness that has been produced by musicians worldwide and just last night I was joking how I’m sending myself bankrupt because every time a new concert is announced I just can’t say no. In the busiest year of my life so far, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in queues outside venues and sneaking into the house well past midnight – rolling up to placement totally exhausted but elated the following day. Here’s to an equally bountiful 2017.

In particular though, I’m totally buzzed by the music being created by Australian women right now.

I’ve been a self fashioned music person~ since I was all of 14 years old and wore my best skinny jeans to see Fall Out Boy playing at Rod Laver Arena; and proudly profess to have a broad and varied catalogue of artists of whom I consider myself a fan. That said, I’ve often noted in passing that women were very under represented in my collection. Due in part to the pop punk leanings of my formative years, and my aversion to actual pop until I was 19 (yeah I was one of those), I turned a blind eye and said like so many others, “it’s not that I don’t like female music, they’re just not THERE”. But oh boy was I wrong. They’re here.

Not only are ladies gaining a strong foothold in the Aus Music Scene (and in my Spotify rotation) but they are raising the bar and improving the game.

In the last month alone I’ve been witness to killer sets from Alex Lahey, Woodes, Bec Sandridge, Montaigne, Ali Barter, The Jezabels, Bel, Alice Ivy and E^ST, all of whom have surpassed my (pretty high) expectations in terms of live musical prowess, quality of show and general vibes. I’ve also had the good fortune to meet a good portion of these artists after their sets and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that I have never felt more appreciated as a music lover. No ego, no pretense, no vibe of wanting to get out of this conversation as soon as possible. Instead, I’ve been able to share (gush) my thanks and well wishes and felt loved in return and in one notable instance, hugged tightly while we both shed a small tear. The same night, I tweeted frantically at an artist to please stick around so I could meet her and she replied “okay!!! Where are you I’ll come find you at the merch desk!”.

Camp Cope and Courtney Barnett are just two examples of artists who have spoken out about the culture of live music which has tended to the violent, drunk, messy and aggressive in recent years (and probably, always). Weekly, new articles supporting this perspective and accompanying movement are published as we’re forced to interrogate ourselves as live music fans. I can’t speak for any experience other than my own but I’ve never felt so positive leaving a venue as I have after seeing any of the aforementioned artists. Maybe I’m comparing these to the heavier concerts I’ve attended in the past but the crowds I’ve experienced have been without violence, aggressive behaviour and provided an all-round better experience.

It’s not just a genre thing though, because I’ve also been at my fair share of concerts of artists across a range of genres, and the crowd vibe is different – somehow competitive and unfriendly as we all stand in a situation which should surely be unifying? As angsty teens we used to talk about how seeing My Chemical Romance perform felt so good because we didn’t feel alone – we felt part of something bigger. Well I’ve found that feeling again. Creating these safe spaces allows young women to find a place that they can go to enjoy their favourite music, dance, sing and not feel judged, harassed or otherwise out of place and wow I didn’t realise I needed it but I really did.

I finally feel a part of music in my city. I do. I feel like that sounds like a weak excuse because I know many women who are an active part of music that doesn’t exclusively feature women and that’s amazing and wonderful but I’ve never quite found my niche there.

Representation matters guys, we knows this, and it warms my heart to see all the young women representing at these shows, potentially being inspired, seeing something they recognise themselves in and going home to create and keep the momentum. These incredible women performing, bring women on tour with them as their supports, who inspire more women to find their voice.

Gig Review: Twenty One Pilots, July 5 @ The Corner, Richmond

First coming to Australia in early 2014 in support of Paramore, Twenty One Pilots (often shortened to TØP) have graced our shores twice more in the year and a half since – most recently this month.

Last Sunday July 5,  TØP played not one but two high energy shows at Richmond’s Corner Hotel. The afternoon set for the underage crowd was sold out weeks beforehand; and the evening performance was similarly full to capacity – with the line stretching down the street hours before doors even opened. The  fans gathered eagerly from all walks of life; wearing a combination of home-made shirts, merchandise from previous tours, makeup reminiscent of that sported by band members Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun at different points, sporting tattoos dedicated to the band, home-made Sharpie drawings similarly adorning their skin, and overwhelmingly unified by their passion for the two-piece.

Their performance is high energy, featuring front man Tyler Joseph intermittently playing piano, bass guitar, singing with microphone in hand or from a mic hanging from the ceiling, pacing back and forth at the front of the stage or indeed climbing onto the crowd to lead them in a rendition of fan favourite songs. The audience in turn watch Joseph’s every move, singing back to him and at times leading the song as he watches, unable to hide a grin. Drummer Josh Dun sits further back on the stage, almost so as not to detract from Joseph’s stage antics. Multiple lighting changes, costume switches and after a little audience banter, (“is it anyone’s birthday here today?….yeah i don’t care” Joseph quips with a laugh and follows up with “I love doing that; I’m sorry!”) are par for the course as Twenty One Pilots power through their impressive set list. The audience is captivated, by turns singing, rapping, dancing and jumping as instructed by Joseph – even keeping up when the lyrics seem impossibly fast; blurring the line between spoken word poetry and rap. Older songs like Car Radio (in which Joseph reflects on the thoughts which plague his mind when he is left sitting in silence) are interspersed with tracks from the new Twenty One Pilots album Blurryface such as recent singles Fairly Local and Stressed Out (which sees the band confront the little voice in your mind that fills you with doubt, sadness or insecurity – named Blurryface by Joseph).

“we are twenty one pilots, and so are you”

As an encore, Twenty One Pilots come back on stage (after explaining “we’re going to pretend this is the last song, and then we’ll come back and play another”) and perform one of their older songs – Trees.  While every TØP performance typically ends with a rendition of this track (in similar style to Fall Out Boy performing Saturday), the emotional power of this song doesn’t fade. Every person in the room sings along in perfect unison, finally chanting “hey” as Joseph and Dun perform their most impressive maneouvre of the night; climbing atop the crowd and performing a synchronised drum routine.

The cheers don’t die quickly, Dun and Joseph stand on the stage waiting for it to quiet down for close to 2 minutes, Joseph making several attempts at speaking but being overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, before he manages to step forwards and say the words that strike the heart of every person there. “We are Twenty One Pilots, and so are you”.

The mutual love between TØP and their fans is reinforced post-concert as hundreds of audience members wait in hopes of meeting their idols. While Joseph is otherwise occupied, Josh patiently talks to and takes photos with people, despite the chill of the night and his probable tiredness.

TØP seem to almost effortlessly encourage a kind of devotion among their fans – equalled only by that of their own devotion to their fans. Tackling issues of depression, anxiety, self-doubt, love, loneliness and hope, Joseph and Dun are candid about their struggles, and through their music they offer a life line to the audience watching below,  It is this kind of reassurance of belonging, understanding and acceptance; that brings such a diverse group together on a cold, mid-winter Sunday night.