Tenniscoats

Greeted at the door by a backwash of rolling guitar distortion from Chris Smith, the rest of the night’s set stretched out vividly before me; it was going to get a little avant garde and with any luck….it was going to get a little weird.

The Crayon Fields were second on the bill, donating a retro pop component to the evening, last years brilliant release,Animal Bells now a crowd favourite, inciting the rarely seen site of the dancing Melbournite. With a fresh release from front man Geoff O’Connor’s solo outfit the Sly Hats taking precedence and an overseas tour in the works, this also proved to be one of the last chances to catch The Crayon Fields in action before O’Connor’s departure.

When The Crayon Fields exited the stage at the end of what seemed a much too short set, it was a buoyant Saya and Takashi Ueno from the Tenniscoat’s who took the floor. Skipping over to her keyboard Saya made light work of endearing herself to the audience with a huge grin and a tentative greeting. As a Tenniscoats novice I was ill prepared for the astonishing vocabulary of sounds they collectively emitted; ethereally beautiful and at times disarmingly awkward, they to and froed from transcendental jazz to ambient distortion. The audience may have spent the entire set lolling blissfully on the carpet, but their enthusiasm was palpable; baited breath, gaping jaws and a none too subtle request for an encore was enough flattery to make Saya Ueno blush. It was a jubilant Tenniscoats that eventually exited stage right, Saya clapping her hands with glee, Takashi and Satoru grinning sheepishly at the audiences roaring applause…. Utterly brilliant.

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