Redhead
Redhead @ The Spiegeltent
7:00pm, Tue 10 Mar 2009
There was no way I could not go to this; the timing, after having seen a redhead from my past the same day, was impeccable. There’s a tip for performers: if you want me to come to your show, make them (1) a matinee, or (b) weirdly coincident with some other aspect of my life.
Having said that, I walked into this performance not having the first clue about what to expect. I didn’t know Susie Keynes, I had no idea about her history through (the critically lauded) Fruit and, aside from the odd reference to “guitar” and “rock”, I had no inkling of what was in store. But, after Susie laconically strolled onstage, heavy cyan eyeshadow matching the colour of her initial guitar, and launched into a solid pop-rocky number, I was pretty impressed. The boisterous rock goodness of “Cherish” was bloody great, but it was a tad unfortunate that the good intentions behind “Peace” didn’t make it a better tune. The closing track, “Wild Angel”, more than made up for it though, a thumpingly decent end to a mostly great show.
Throughout, CJ Rhodes’ understated bass rumbled away in the background; solid bedrock, rarely coming to the fore. Ex-Fruit-mate Yanya Boston’s drumming was also… well, there, in the background, part of the foundation.
Solid.
That’s the one-word review of this show. The songs were (mostly) above-average in appeal, on the heavier side of pop-rock, and the performance was as committed as you’d like, but at the end of the show it didn’t take much to talk myself out of buying a CD. I’d certainly see Redhead again, though.