Washington

Jive on a Saturday night usually means a solid playlist of indie tunes until the early hours of Sunday morning. This particular night though, Jive played host to Washington and friends. The second date on the eagerly anticipated I Believe You, Liar tour (also the first of two sold out Adelaide shows), Washington brought a cool mix of indie-pop to upper Hindley Street.

The last few gigs I've been to at Jive led me to wonder whether or not the sound technician monitoring the show was actually deaf, but tonight, it didn't seem to be as feedback-driven. Although the show had sold out, the crowd seemed to build slower than I thought; even by the second support act, there was still room to easily move about.

The first support act to take the stage was Brisbane-based singer-songwriter, Scott Spark. I had heard good things about this guy but I was truly impressed as I watched him perform. Genuine heartfelt undertones came through Spark's tunes, covering a variety of subjects. Performing without a band is hard enough, but performing to a crowd where about fifty percent of the people are half-interested is another thing. Spark dealt with these challenges really well, I'd recommend Googling him and giving him a listen - I think he'll be big.

The final support act was also without his band tonight, and was in the form of Dan Kelly. An amusing entertainer to say the least, Kelly conversed with the crowd as much as he sung to them. A crazy-cool hairdo and guitars in tow, Kelly worked through songs about relationships and the concept of a Tony Abbott-run Australia before performing the song he's probably most known for recently, Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam.

One of the things I noticed about this show was the efficiency of the removal of relevant equipment from the stage in between each act. It was a real cohesive effort, which made for a well-oiled show.

By the time Megan Washington and her band took to the stage, Jive was packed out both upstairs and down, ready to show her some love. Powering through tracks from not only the debut album I Believe You, Liar, but also a fresh song entitled Plastic Bag, Megan held everyone in the palm of her dainty hand. The banter between Megan and her band, and also Megan and the crowd made the experience of being up against a speaker with sore feet all the more worthwhile.

After treating the crowd with songs such as Someone Else In Mind, Clementine and Sunday Best, Washington returned for their encore at first with Dan Kelly to perform a cover of Divinyls' I Touch Myself.

Closing the set with Cement, Washington left the Adelaide crowd with a peek into a fantastic show to come when they return in October for Parklife. If you ever get the opportunity to see this band live, I'll give you one piece of advice - Get on it quickly. As this tour shows, tickets WILL sell.

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