The Grates

ByTessa Muskett

A joke doesn’t always get funnier the more you repeat it, front man of tonight’s opening act, John Steel Singers showed he doesn’t understand this, flogging the idea of a ‘trombong’ to death. With a couple of triple j sing alongs under their belt, this band’s sound has grown into fun, catchy indie pop. This is a similar description to that often used to describe The Grates, but despite this apparent link, their sounds differ greatly. Where John Steel Singer’s have three part male harmonies, The Grates are led by Patience Hodgson using her voice in diverse and distinctive ways. The brass instruments added little excitement or swing factor. The Vasco Era joined John Steel Singers on stage at the end of the first band’s set, armed with beers in hand - only in the entertainment industry. Look out for this promising band’s mini LP, ‘The Beagle and The Dove Mini LP’ which is out now.

The tenuous magic or appeal of The Vasco Era was conveyed tonight to a crowd that was almost as lively as if it was the headliner on stage. The howling and the screeching didn’t dominate and overwhelm, rather it highlighted and accentuated the music, taking it further. With the lead singer busting out on the slide guitar, the crowd was more excited than would be expected considering the disparate sounds of The Vasco Era and The Grates, the latter of which it is presumable the majority were there to see.

The Grates’ are renowned for their live show being something of a spectacle: fun, colourful and energetic it was, but fresh, exciting or powerful it wasn’t. The Grates’ show hasn’t developed much from its tween stage of two and a half years ago. Patience still howls, plays with a twirling ribbon and wears a metallic leotard. She was also clad in the dress she wore on an old cover of J-mag. If pop music isn’t going to change the world, it should at least be entertaining with some sense of growth. Although, the people who love The Grates were quite happy to hear more of what they had come to expect from the band.

A band is the sum of all its parts. The keyboardist was a session multi-tasker that’d been roped in for the tour. He came in handy to untangle Patience’s streamer but he brought little to the live show in terms of presence. There was a weird mis-matched vibe to the presentation which made Patience the ultimate focus, not only because of her energy, but just because it was too confusing to absorb all the different elements. The band is a trio though, it’s name isn’t ‘Patience’, she’s not Madonna.

A hint of Patience’s leotard was not hot. Karina Utomo wearing only a leotard is hot. Then again, Karina asks of her audience, “Show us your courage” whilst being in a crowd all passionate and sweaty with rawness, saying worthwhile things. Admittedly, Patience’s clown eye make-up was slightly redeeming, although no doubt it was a desperate attempt at hipness, already being overdone in the latest issue of VICE magazine.

Guitarist John Patterson’s punky stage presence made him look like he thought he was in Faker, channeling overgrown school kid with barely contained enthusiasm. This is like many of the pop punk artists from the mid 90s to 00s. Maybe that’s where the inspiration for the music played while the stage was set for The Grates’ set came from: think Blink 182 and Green Day, in the ‘Dookie’ days.

“Higher” was definitely a highlight, being one of the few songs that brought any sense of sexiness or cheekiness, leaving the others feeling like pre-school performances where you have to dance like a wallaby having a sneezing fit. This is definitely the kind of dance move that is more fun to execute than witness.

The audiences at UniBar are always enthusiastic for encores, and tonight was no exception. On this occasion, the night was rounded off with the last song from The Grates’ new album “Teeth Lost, Hearts Won” which they were playing in support of on this occasion. The final song of the evening was the now modern Australian classic, “19 20 20”, catchy and meaningless, the kids who gave Patience a tambourine which she spent ten minutes thanking them for probably enjoyed it.