Project Description

THE LULU RAES

+ Gold Member + Johnny Hunter

@ The Small Ballroom

01/06/18

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Jess Moog

 

Photo: Daisy Hofstetter

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Lulu Raes? More like Lulu Baes amiright?! These cool Sydney slickers are close to wrapping up their national Lulu Album Tour, but not before they hit up Newy for an intimate show at The Small Ballroom. Lucky for me, I was there, so here is how the night went…

First up we had the eccentrically excellent Johnny Hunter. Their British pop punk meets Aussie pub rock inspired tunes correlated nicely with their interesting demeanour. The front man’s curly mullet and subtle use of eyeliner, combined with the bands cool attitude and solid sound made for a very enjoyable performance. The crowd was pretty dismal unfortunately but they warmed them up well.

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The Lulu Raes

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Then we had Gold Member prance on stage, bringing their surfy songs to life through a complicated keyboard and a six string. Azza’s voice sounded great, with each tune transporting my eardrums to a silky, sunny paradise. The Sydney duo also related their music to the ecstasy one feels when eating a maccas brekkie, and it actually kind of turned out to be pretty true, so that was fun. The crowd had grown slightly by this point, and seemed more invested in the music. I even spotted Boo from Boo Seeka having a boogie front of stage. Always good to see musos supporting musos!

Fifteen minutes of banter later and the Lulu Raes stormed the room, receiving a boisterous cheer from the crowd. It wasn’t long until the funky drum beats and infinitely cheerful riffs mixed with Eddie’s dreamy vocals had the rugged-up audience feeling like it was summer all over again! All the instruments sounded sick, and apart from a couple of tiny technical mishaps, the performance went beautifully. They even chucked in a wonderful rendition of Randy Newman’s ‘You’ve Got A Friend in Me’, sung by bass player Marcus, which encouraged the majority of show-goers to grab their nearest and dearest for a sappy, heartfelt singalong. I’m an unemotional gremlin who doesn’t actually like hugs, but even I felt the urge to embrace my gorgeous pals.

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The Lulu Raes

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The Lulu’s stage presence was mostly pretty chill, which is unsurprising considering they had about a square inch to move around in each (it’s called The Small Ballroom for a reason duh). In saying that, Marcus especially was actually super animated, flopping his limbs and bass about like a noodle in the breeze. I was also rather pleased with the assumingly accidental colour coordination of the scattered VB cans and the green stage lighting; a kind of earthy, laid-back aesthetic that suited their music very well!

As the set began to near its end, the relentlessly groovy crowd drew in closer. Bangers such as ‘Reputation’ and ‘Burnout’ pretty much transformed the entire audience into a huge bunch of woo-girls, but the reaction seemed to encourage the band to go harder, so that was lovely. The boys eventually finished off with a slower-paced tune that had the crowd swaying soundly, and then off they trotted backstage.

The Lulu Raes are RAELLY good live, guys. Go out there and catch a show ASAP.

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