The Royal Jellies- Brunswick Music Festival

The Brunswick Music Festival has been running for the past couple weeks and tonight Belinda joined me to see The Royal Jellies play at The Spotted Mallard on Sydney Road.  This was my first time inside the venue and the band room is actually quite cute and a good size.  The opening act was Aluka, a female three piece a cappella group which sounded really nice in the acoustics of the room.

The Royal Jellies played a fantastic set featuring many songs off their debut album Burrows St. Poolside, including "Place In My Head," "Shoot You Down," "Bumblebee," "Isobel" and "Sweet Papa Joe & Maestro Julio."  About two-thirds of the way through the set some people went up to the front of the stage to start dancing and were quickly joined by others once they played a cover of Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" with Annabelle from Aluka on lead vocals.  I don't think I ever thought I would hear a jazz/swing version of that song!  The crowd wouldn't let them finish their set without an encore so they played a couple instrumentals that had everyone dancing and "Scotch and Coke" off their first EP.  It was a really fun evening in a lovely venue and always a joy to see a group of talented musicians play live.

Here's the band playing "Place In My Head" last year on ABC Radio National:

Major Tom And The Atoms- Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom! Album Launch

It was busier than normal on Brunswick Street last night as Mary and I drove around trying to find a park (we later realized it was because the Johnston Street Fiesta was on).  We finally made it to The Evelyn Hotel for Major Tom and The Atoms' album launch just as The Dyson Wyatt Polyamorous Tryst were finishing up their set.  The second act of the night was dixieland/jazz 8-piece band The Royal Jellies, who I really liked.  They were very impressive and reminded me of Squirrel Nut Zippers.  Featuring songs off their debut album Burrows St. Poolside, the highlights of their set were "Place In My Head," "Sweet Papa Joe & Maestro Julio" and "Shoot You Down."

It's been a long time coming but I'm so glad Major Tom and The Atoms have finally released their debut album Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom!  Tom Hartney came out onto the stage in a black and white striped jacket and launched into "Merri Creek (Dead & Gone)."  They played the majority of the new album throughout the night and Tom added theatricality to the set with his costume changes.  He donned a red robe for "Confusion" and later changed into a plaid suit and hat for "Sherlock Holmes."  The band were on fire with "Boom Boom Boom," "Wishing Well," "Evil Angel" and "The House That Love Built," which had Sean playing the saxophone from the floor.  The band finished up the night with "Mockingbird" and had the whole crowd dancing and clapping along.

Here's the video for the first single off the album "Confusion," which was shot in Chinatown in Melbourne