The Beautiful Girls

Having really enjoyed the Beautiful Girls at Xanadu Winery a while back, my expectations were high, but even a sub-par Beautiful Girls performance would be a decent show, because there is something about these guys that forces you to have fun while listening to their music.

The Fumes got my interest immediately with a resonating guitar, thrashing out their 2 piece blues to a receptive audience. I guess comparisons to the Black Keys are inevitable and The Fumes should be proud of this because the similarities are all good: stylish, soulful and powerful blues that will appeal to new fans and older generations with an ear for the genre. Even fans of general rock should appreciate this, especially Triple J fave “Automobile” which would have to be the highlight of their set. I am definitely going to keep an eye on these guys.

Next up were the Beautiful Girls, coming on stage to the delight of the younger fans up against the barrier. Also up the front, I was able to see the set list, and was a little surprised to see “Flame Trees” on it; new song or Cold Chisel cover? I would have to wait as the Girls started with “We’re Already Gone”, then rocked through favourites like “Blackbird”, “Weight Of The World” and a terrific version of “Music”, swayed through the dreamy love song “Periscopes” and performed passionate renditions of “The Biggest Lie I Ever Told” and “Shot Down” among others.

Few sound problems marred the set, the only major one being a keyboard malfunction, but it seemed not even this would ruin the night, as much to everyone’s delight and the Beautiful Girls relief, the bloody thing just started working again as if nothing had happened.

The main set ended with “Wrong Side”, and a short break was followed by a great encore, which started with Cold Chisel’s Aussie pub classic “Flame Trees” which encouraged a bit of a crowd sing-a-long. Next was the popular “La Mar”, which the crowd seemed to have been waiting for, and none were let down by the Girls enthusiastic delivery.

The closer was “Morning Sun”. The ending was dragged out for about 90 seconds with distortion and onstage antics like using the mic stand as a slide, and this was probably the best rock ending I have seen in a long time. Singer Mat claimed at the end of the show that this was one of the most fun shows ever, and I could sense he genuinely meant it. It’s nights like this you yearn for as a music lover, and I hope I can see these guys again soon.

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