Pulling Away was performed first and Kline had the audience from the first note. His beautifully haunting sound resonated, leaving the audience stunned, silenced and unsure what to expect next from the singer, songwriter and muli-instrumentalist.
It is hard not to gush over Kline as a reviewer and in future I will need to learn to be more critical, because Kline has raised the bar. Rarely is such talent portrayed in a support act and it is fair to say that generally at shows, people chatter amongst themselves, order drinks without care and glance up every now and again at supports, but not with Kline. Few dared to turn even to kiss their loved one on the cheek, fewer dared to order a drink and those that did, did so in hushed, guilty whispers.
The Cure was a particularly noteworthy, among other songs played like My Stage, Silence is Golden and Apparition. Unbelievable it is that this bombshell is not (yet) a big time crooner, but a country bumpkin from Milawa, northeast Victoria. “Tonight I have business cards in lieu of a record,” he joked, although he is currently working with Producer Francois Tetaz (Architecture in Helsinki Lior, Goyte) on his debut album which will be released in the not too distant future. But for now, he is doing his time in Melbourne’s Pubs, Bars and Venues.
That was not the last time we would see Tom Kline that night, who looked a prettier version of Kurt Cobain, in his oversized white Tee, with mousy shoulder length blonde hair and pretty eyes. Kline should change his name to Jack, because like a Jack-in-the-box, he kept popping up throughout the evening, as back up vocalist for both the next support act, Gossling, and the headliner, Lior.
Above: Lior.
Young, pretty and cute as a button was 27-year-old Gossling, (Helen Croome,) who was up next. She performed a duet with Cello player, Anita Quayle, who is a member of Gossling’s band, although she often performs solo as well as with her full band, at venues such as The Espy, The Empress, Veludo, and the Northcote Social Club.
She had audiences laughing along with her as she chattered away about bush turkies and did an impersonation of how her mother would sound, if Gossling had photos taken with her hair in her eyes. “Can you make sure my hair is off my face, or my mum will kill me,” she requested of Faster Louder photographer, Anna Kanci, in a husky voice that can be likened to that of Julia Stone.
Country air must do it to these people, as Gossling is also a country soul, being born in Tasmania and growing up Albury/Wodonga. Songs played included Hazard, Days are Over and He knows my Love.
Notable was Days Are Over, which Triple J started playing about a year ago off her last EP. “People thought it was Sarah Blasco or Lisa Mitchell, but it wasn’t… It was me.” She said, leaving the audience laughing.
In a post show interview Gossling admitted to being nervous and said it was a good thing “If I don't get nervous I play badly. I need the adrenaline running through my veins to perform well.” Which would be my only criticism, as at one point I felt for her as she was visibly nervous, touching her hair and face and fiddling with her dress. But the rest of the audience didn’t seem to notice, too engrossed in her music and laughed away with her between song chatter.
Gossling has the ability to be the girl that everyone knows. She’s daggy like your sister, gorgeous like your best friend and has that innocence of the girl you went to primary school with, yet have not seen for years. “It was my dream to play at the corner…and now I’m playing at the corner.” She said, once again making the audience laugh in an intimate performance.
Gossling’s last song saw Tom “Jack-in-the-box” Kline back on stage to sing backing vocals. The Only Way, was performed which is off Gossling’s new Ep which will be released on November 5th, and was a beautiful way to end her set, as fellow audience members agreed, her performance improved as it went on, perhaps initially slightly quelled by nerves.
Above: Tom Kline, Anita Quayle and Gossling.
Lior causally walked on stage, guitar in hand and his eyes sparkled as he shone a smile to fans. After the first song, Lior recalled his first gig in Melbourne at Bar One. The show was just after he released his first album, where he played to “an empty room of diehard fans,” about 12 of them who knew all they lyrics, a far cry from the sold out Corner.
Lior and the band, consisting of Cameron Deyell on electric guitar, Jonathan "Sparkles" Zion on keyboard, backup vocals and percussion, Brett Hirst on Bass and Michael Iveson on Drums, with Tom Kline who popped up again on backing vocals, mostly played songs from newest record release, Tumbling into the Dawn.
Noteworthy of the set was, This Old Love, which was dedicated to Jane and Neil, parents of a friend of Lior’s. “They were high school sweethearts who found each other late in life,” Lior read quirkily from a text message, “who are finally getting married and will be walking down the aisle to This Old Love,” a segway that fans swooned over.
I’ll forget you in time, was also commendable. The previous night the band played a show in Hepburn Springs, where Lior reached out to the audience for someone to fill the harmony part of Sia. Juli Robinsom, was the brave lady to put up her hand, she had apparently done such a great job and it just so happened that she would also be at the Melbourne show, so Lior invited her back to the stage. After a slight time lag, between invitation and actually clambering up on stage, Liors’ face relaxed after showing slight anxiety thinking that “perhaps she had chickened out.” She sang her part and left the audience humbled and jealous. Lior said in a post show interview that Juli was grateful for the experience and was inundated with people congratulating her and wanting to by her drinks.
Above: Lior with Juli Robinsom.
The show greatly incorporated each member of the band with light-hearted banter, laughter filled segways, and anecdotes from Liors recent life. Lior also made reference quite often to his support acts, which meant that the evening was nicely woven together, and balanced.
‘Sparkles’ sat at his keyboard and often giggled at Lior, Cameron Deyell played memorable guitar solos, not bad for a left hander whose dad told him to preserver with his right hand as a child, now playing along side Lior. (Admittedly concentrating so hard, I thought he was going to bite his tongue off.) Drummer Michael Iveson orchestrated the band, with eyes that spoke a thousand words, mostly saying “Are you ready?” And bassist Brett Hirst was confident and cool, while Tom sung back up vocals from the back of the stage, beer in hand.
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