The Basics: Nice Harmonies. Nice Looks. Nice Lunch.

Last night Mel came over to my place and then we headed out for our evening on Lygon Street. We started with a delicious Italian dinner at Tiamo, and then dessert at Koko Black. Next it was off to the John Curtin Hotel and their recently opened bandroom to see The Basics.

The first band of the night was Sydney's Dead Letter Chorus. We were impressed with their indie/folk sound and they had a male and female trading off on lead singing duties. Next up was the alt-country stylings of The Wildes. They were good but played a lot of slow songs in their set before two more uplifting, faster tempo ones at the end.

The Basics hit the stage and began their hour long set with two brand new songs. Tim was sporting a stylish mustache he said was inspired by Ray Thistlewaite of Thirsty Merc. They played a fair amount of newer songs including "Home Again," "With This Ship," "Trouble in His Head," "She's the Executioner" and the latest single "Like a Brother." There were also some classics with "Money (Gimme, Gimme), " and the rarely heard "Three Cool Cats" and "Second Best." The encore included an acoustic start to "Rattle My Chain" and a cover of "Besame Mucho." Overall it was a good show although the vocals were too low in the mix up at the front of the stage.