Slow Dancer- Surrender Album Launch

To celebrate the release of his debut album Surrender, Slow Dancer (aka Simon Okely) did an album launch over the past two Sunday evenings at The Workers Club.  Last week the opening act was DXHeaven, featuring Nicholas Lam on vocals, keyboard and samples.  The group had an electronic/R&B sound to them which I enjoyed, and for one song they invited Eliza Lam and Simon on stage to play with them. Next up was Melbourne indie six piece band Ciggie Witch, which contains two-thirds of The Ocean Party (Zac, Lachlan and Liam) and sounds a bit similar but less polished than them.  Unfortunately they seem to be contributing to an annoying trend I've noticed at gigs over the past few months: having multiple people in a band on lead vocals when not all of them should be.  If you can't sing in tune, please spare the audience having to sit through it.

This week's show opened with Dr. Doctor, a four piece band featuring Eliza Lam on lead vocals. The songs were really driven by the groove of Eliza's bass lines, and it was good to see Rohan Sforcina out from behind the drum kit and playing guitar (an instrument he has only picked up in the last few months).  Next on stage was singer-songwriter JP Klipspringer (aka Jack Poulson).  He started solo on electric guitar and then invited his band on stage, playing songs from his recent EP as well as some new ones.

It's been a while since I last saw Slow Dancer play and I was excited to get to see him live again as I love Simon's guitar playing and the general chill vibes of his songs.  His set lists over the two Sundays included some of my favorites such as "Too Great," "We All Make Mistakes," "Home," "Leave It To Me" and "Cornerstone."  Simon invited many of his musician friends up throughout the evening to play with the band, which led to the funny comment "I'm collecting Lams and Woottons" as siblings took over the stage.  The final song for each night was a cover of Womack & Womack's "Teardrops."  Do yourself a favor and buy Surrender- I promise you won't be disappointed.

Here's the video for the latest single "Took The Floor Out" (which I think is a secret tribute to Body Balance):