Romy Vager and Chloe Alison Escott- Northcote Social Club

I was back at the Northcote Social Club tonight, this time with Belinda, to see a co-headline show with Romy Vager (RVG) and Chloe Alison Escott (The Native Cats) being put on by Chapter Music. We arrived just as Sleeper and Snake (the folk side project of Amy Hill and Al Monfort of Terry) were finishing their set.

Chloe Alison Escott was next up on the stage, and played solo on a keyboard. She did songs off her newest album Stars Under Contract along with some of her favorites that she felt weren’t getting enough plays on streaming services. There was some fun banter with members of the crowd along with several amusing anecdotes throughout the set.

Romy Vager was the final act of the evening, playing solo on electric guitar. She opened with "Vincent Van Gogh" and her set consisted of a mix of unreleased tracks, a few RVG songs, and a cover of a song by The Triffids. The RVG tracks were quite stripped back with "Cause and Effect" (a personal fave of mine and the first time I've heard it live), "Feral Beach" and "Photograph," which was the final song of the night. I always love seeing Romy live and it was a privilege to listen to the reworked arrangements to some of her songs.

RVG- Malthouse Outdoor Stage

The Malthouse Outdoor Stage is hosting a number of COVID Safe shows this summer as live music returns to Melbourne. Belinda and I headed there this afternoon for the 5:30pm early show for RVG. I must admit it was a bit odd to be sitting at a table watching them play in the sunshine. They opened with "Alexandra" and included a number of songs off their latest album Feral in the set, including "Little Sharkie & The White Pointer Sisters," "Help Somebody," "Christian Neurosurgeon" and "I Used To Love You." Other highlights were "IBM," "Vincent Van Gogh," "A Quality Of Mercy," "That's All" and the set closer "Feral Beach." RVG is such a force of a band to watch live and today's show was no different. It was good to finally get to hear the tracks off Feral live now that they can play shows again.

 

Here's the video for "I Used To Love You"

RVG- The Espy

Tonight was the first time I've been back to The Espy since they reopened after doing major renovations. It's become much more yuppified in the bar areas, but The Gershwin Room still had its old charm, which is where I headed to see RVG play this evening. It was a bit of a gothic and industrial sounding start with the two opening acts V and The Native Cats. Both played as duos and used a variety of samples and beats to create and layer their songs on stage.

When RVG came out lead singer Romy Vager started the set by apologizing for making all us Northsiders come to the Southside for a gig. RVG have had a pretty big year of touring internationally, so this show was part of a triumphant homecoming tour of Australia. They played a mix of old and new songs during their hour long set, and while they acknowledged the lack of new releases this year, it sounds like a new single should be out in early 2020. Highlights of the set were "Alexandra," "A Quality Of Mercy," "IBM," "Vincent Van Gogh," "I Used To Love You" and a new song called "Christian Neurosurgeon." As usual the whole band were on fire, and Romy is such an emotive frontwoman as she performs that you don't take your eyes off her. For the encore they didn't want to leave the stage because it would have put them in the kitchen, so they stayed on and finished the night with "Feral Beach," which was partially inspired by the time Romy lived in St Kilda.

Here's a live version of "Christian Neurosurgeon"

RVG- Alexandra Single Launch

Tonight Belinda and I headed to Howler for the sold out launch of RVG's new single "Alexandra." Opening the evening was four piece punk band Pinch Points, who had fast paced songs driven by a female rhythm section, and were also wearing matching band t-shirts. Next up was the indie quartet Terry, who songs have a mix of humor and politics that are sung in a more deadpan and monotone style.

RVG came out onto the stage and began with a cover of John Cale's "Dying On The Vine." Their set was captivating to watch as lead singer Romy Vager commanded the stage with her vocals and the rest of the band powered through each song. They played quite a few tracks off their debut album A Quality Of Mercy as well as some unreleased songs I'm assuming will be on an upcoming album. Highlights included "Vincent Van Gogh," "The Eggshell World" and new single "Alexandra." In the encore they started with another cover, Buzzcocks' "Something's Gone Wrong Again," and also played "Feral Beach" and an old track "Planet Earth" to finish. The band are off overseas for a June tour in the USA and Canada, so check them out if you get the opportunity as they are an amazing live band to experience in person.

Here's the video for "Alexandra"

Oh Mercy- Rolling Stone Live Lodge

Celebrating Grand Final Eve and Alex Gow's 29th birthday, Oh Mercy and friends played at The Workers Club tonight as part of the Rolling Stone Live Lodge series. The opening act for the evening was Melbourne four piece RVG. Frontwoman Romy Vager was quite a captivating presence, and their sound was reminiscent of early 1980s post-punk. It was a really good and authentic set.

Alex kicked off the evening on keyboard playing "Lady Eucalyptus." The first part of the set featured Alex solo on keyboard and guitar with the occasional friend invited to join him on stage for songs. We got to hear old favorites "Lay Everything On Me" and "Keith St.," and Olympia came out to play on the When We Talk About Love tracks "Let Me Be Him" and "Iron Cross." Alex did a beautiful version of Ed Kuepper's "This Hideous Place" on acoustic guitar. When Jae Laffer of The Panics came out he changed things up by playing Alex a song - The Panics' new single "Weatherman."

Being Alex's birthday he was a bit introspective about life and death, and joked that he felt this gig with his friends was like a funeral scene out of an episode of Touched By An Angel (perhaps the first time that tv show has ever been referenced at a concert). This show provided Alex with the opportunity to debut some of the new songs he's been working on. They covered a range of themes from Japanese saunas to crocodile meat, and the stand out track for me was "Hot Topic" with its steady groove.

The second part of the set featured the one night only Oh Mercy "hot rock band" line up containing Laura Jean on bass, Rob McComb (The Triffids) on guitar, Ceci Dowling on viola, Liam McGorry (Saskwatch) on horns, and Etta Curry (Loose Tooth) on drums. The band sounded fantastic as they played "My Man" (perhaps the best live version of that song I've heard with Liam's flugelhorn), "Without You" and "Deep Heat." The evening concluded with the band and Jae Laffer doing a cover of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited." It was an entertaining night with some very talented musicians. Alex says there should be a new Oh Mercy album next year, so that is definitely something to look forward to.