Italian Masterpieces and New Gods

Only in Melbourne will you find a major art exhibition combined with local bands playing.  After a quick dinner from the Mr Burger food truck at Fed Square (and avoiding swooping seagulls as we tried to eat), Mary, Belinda and I headed down to the NGV for Friday Nights at Italian Masterpieces.  The exhibition features paintings and drawings of Italian art from the 16th - 18th centuries that were collected by Spain's Royal Court and are part of the Museo del Prado's collection in Madrid.  There are some beautiful paintings within the 7 rooms of the exhibition, and growing up Catholic was definitely an advantage to understanding what was portrayed as many of them contained religious imagery.  Italian Masterpieces closes on 31 August so try to check it out if you can.

Another fun exhibition currently on in Federation Court is Paola Pivi's You Started It... I Finish It which features eight life size polar bear sculptures in different poses covered in colorful feathers.  The playful bears definitely are a sight to behold, and I'm sure little kids would absolutely love them.

Of course we were excited to get the opportunity to see New Gods play in the wonderful acoustics of the Great Hall, which is why we chose to come this week.  The set started with their more introspective indie songs before segueing into the dance style music they've been creating as of late, which had people bopping along.  It will be interesting to see what musical direction they end up taking, with even Dom admitting it would be easier to just be an indie rock band.  They finished their hour long set with an impassioned version of "Eyes Of Love" off their debut album Beloved.  All in all it was a great night and another fun experience at the NGV.

Saskwatch- Nose Dive Tour

Last night Mary and I met up at the Corner Hotel for the second sold out show by Saskwatch in support of their latest album Nose Dive.  The opening act of the all Melbourne bill was Grizzly Jim Lawrie.  This was the first time I've seen him with a full band and they played a fantastic set of alt-country and 70's rock sounding songs.  I really liked the new single "Midnight Run."

Next up was New Gods, who amazingly was the one Little Red offshoot band I had never seen live before.  They played an eclectic set of dance/funk and more guitar-based indie rock songs.  Dom seems to have been attending raves as he had the waving arm and hand movements down pat.  The Saskwatch horn section came out to play with them on their last song which got the crowd excited.

Saskwatch has been on the Melbourne music scene for a few years and I was excited to finally see this nine piece soul band live.  The Corner was absolutely packed by the time they hit the stage.  Their set was very entertaining as they played a mix of songs from both their albums, including "Don't Wanna Try," "Your Love," "Give Me A Reason," and "Keep Me In Mind."  The ballads "Left Me To Die," "Call Your Name" and "Now That We're Alone" really showcased Nkechi Anele's amazing voice.  They also played their cover of Little Red's "Coca Cola" but for some reason didn't get Dom and Adrian out to play it with them.  The main set closed with "Hands," which had the whole crowd clapping along, and after returning to the stage for a one song encore it was all over.  It's great to see Saskwatch gaining success and building an even bigger following as they are a very talented band.

Here's the clip for "Born To Break Your Heart"