Tonight Tash and I met at The Empress Hotel for an evening of music. The opening act was one Quang Dinh going under the moniker "Quang Goes Mangoes." He played solo with just an acoustic guitar for about a half-hour. It amazes me how prolific a songwriter Quang is as the songs he played were all new to me and didn't even draw on his Little Red or Hondas material. The guy has got talent and an ability to convey emotion through his lyrics and vocal range. It was nice to have a bit of a chat with him after his set (even if he was "toasted").Next on the bill was The Box Rockets. They were pleasant and have a bit of an 80's British band sound to them. While enjoyable to listen to, their songs weren't really that memorable and blended together a bit. The headlining act for the night was The Good China in the first week of their residency at The Empress. The band is a group of 9 multi-instrumentalists, and they are a lot of fun and play very happy and uplifting music. Both Tash and I were impressed by them and how they rotated turns singing at the front of stage and swapping instruments for each song. You never knew what instrument would make an appearance next. It was a very democratic music collective! If you get a chance to catch them around Melbourne go for it- you won't be disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment