Live Review - Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes

January 11, 2012 – Queen Victoria Night Market

Before I tell you all about Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes, I feel as though you need to know a little about the venue in order for you to understand just how strange it is that it is a gathering place for people to come together to shop, eat exotic foods and hear live music.  In fact, Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market has to be one of the oddest places in the city.  Established in the 1878, it is Melbourne’s oldest market and the only 19^th century market still in operation within the CBD.  It is also one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions selling many fresh groceries and gourmet foods along with various arts and craft stalls selling their wares.  During the summer months, the market holds night sessions every Wednesday night with live music and assorted entertainment and it’s on one of these nights that this gig took place.  However, while this might seem quite normal, what isn’t as well known is that the site of the Queen Vic Market was once the site of the old Melbourne Cemetery.  The rapid expansion of the city during the later half of the 19^th century meant that the cemetery needed to be moved.  A graveyard right the in middle of one of the largest colonies in Australia isn’t the most attractive thing in the world right?  When the bodies were being moved from one site to another it turns out that someone got lazy and while all the grave markers were moved to the new location, of the 10,000 people interred at the old Melbourne Cemetery, 9,000 still remain buried under the Queen Victoria Market car parks and shed stalls.  And it is in this very place, on a Wednesday night, that local band Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes took to the stage.

This nine piece band has been creating quite a buzz around town over the last twelve months, playing just about anywhere that would have them while recording and releasing two singles and their debut album, Baby Caught The Bus all in that time.  Their sound is the kind of straight up doo-wop/soul that was all the rage back in the 1950s with a few modern touches à la Amy Winehouse.  In fact, if anyone is fit to fill the huge shoes left by Winehouse’s untimely death (even though her last few years were relatively quiet in terms of her musical output), it’s these guys.  They are the complete package.  The band grooves away with energy and bombast creating the perfect backing for Browne’s booming voice as she commands attention whilst giving the impression that she doesn’t care whether you are listening or not.  It’s not an arrogance that she displays, but a confidence in her ability to win you over with what she has, and it is a confidence that is well founded.  But the true highlight of the band is the three women who make up The Bangin’ Rackettes, backing vocalists to Browne’s power.  Their harmonies are extremely tight, especially on the excellent love ballad Far Too Late and the delightfully bitchy She Plays Up To You.  They even manage to make standards such as Sonny Bono’s Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) and a cover of Salt-n-Pepa’s Whatta Man sound refreshingly new, injecting new life into them with their old school style.

I must say though, that Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes managed to do all of this with nearly every element against them last night.  The family friendly atmosphere of the Queen Vic Market meant that the band appeared to be holding back a touch, giving the impression that their normal live show would have a bit more oomph to it that wouldn’t have been appropriate for the children in the crowd.  On top of this, it was one of the coldest summer nights in recent memory and the wind often made a mess of the sound.  Despite these minor setbacks, Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes put on an excellent show, forcing people onto their feet to dance the evening away.  In fact, this band’s sound is so infectious I’m willing to bet that, in addition to all the people in attendance last night, the 9,000 permanent residents underneath The Queen Vic Market were also enjoying the entertainment, dusting off their bones and joining in with their own go-go dancing session.  I will definitely be seeing this band again.