Live Review - Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes

January 27, 2012 – The Gershwin Room at The Espy, Melbourne

Supports:  The ReChords (Aus) & Fraser A. Gorman (Aus)

I’m fairly certain that my enjoyment of this band was made pretty clear when I saw (and reviewed) them for the first time a few weeks ago when they played at the Queen Victoria Night Market.  So, it should come as no surprise that when I heard they were playing a free gig at St Kilda’s famous Esplanade Hotel, I decided to go along again and get my dance on.

Again, this band was outstanding.  Everything I loved from last time was still in check; synchronised go-go moves, the tight backing vocals from the Bangin’ Rackettes, the huge, booming voice of Clairy Browne and the kickin’ backing band who just kept delivering groove after groove.  I did say in my last review that Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes would probably benefit from a less family friendly, less daylight-y venue than the one given to them at the Queen Victoria Night Market and last night proved me correct.  The band seemed much freer than they had at the previous show I attended and it meant that their performance had a greater sense of naughty fun.  Specifically, the go-go dance moves were bigger and more outlandish, with more attitude and sass and Browne seemed more relaxed in this environment letting loose with her own unique brand of dancing when not performing one of the set routines with The Bangin’ Rackettes.

The only drawback from the night, really, was the sound.  When the focus and power of this band relies so heavily on Browne and The Bangin’ Rackettes, the mixer can’t afford to drown them out with the backing band, which happened too often last night.  During the softer numbers, when the band wasn’t pushing things, Browne and Bangin’ Rackettes true powers were heard by all.  But when the band was on a heavy groove, all vocals seemed to get lost and while the backing band is very powerful and very good, they’re generally not what your average punter is coming for.  The mix wasn’t bad enough to turn away fans or anything like that and the performance was good enough in itself to distract from this minor detail.  However, if they’re going to take the next step, and be as big as they could be, it’s something that they might want to address.

I’ve explained all of that as though it was a huge deal and I apologise if it does come across that way, but I have one of those brains where, once I notice something like that, it becomes hard to ignore.  So, I’ll leave you with the following statement that is a more accurate reflection of what I saw last night.  Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes are an outstanding band, both on record and live.  Their shows have that quality that forces people to move and have fun.  Sincerely, this band could go as far as they want to.  They have the talent, the look and the songs and it’s only a matter of time before more people starting taking notice.