Skipping Girl Vinegar (September 22nd, The Toff in Town)

I first discovered this band when they supported Something For Kate back in May and ever since then I was determined to see them live. Until now their performances have been limited to supporting slots, rather than headlining (other than a recent free gig at Melbourne Uni during lunchtime) so this launch of their single One Chance was their first headlining show. I'd never been to the Toff in Town before- it was a nice venue, about the size of East Brunswick Club and we found a comfortable padded ledge to lean on near the bar.

The two support acts were reasonably suitable. Sherlock's Daughter opened, played some folky guitar stuff and had a voice sounding rather like Kate Miller-Heidke at times and Clare Bowditch at others. This was followed by Emma Heeney and the Daves (we assume because both the bass player and drummer were called Dave), plus some random girl whose job seemed to be dancing and playing small percussion instruments. For a support act their set lasted a long time, almost an hour... you got the feeling they were used to headlining rather than sidelining. Also, whoever was doing their mixing didn't quite get it right. We could hardly hear Emma Heeney at times. Perhaps it was just her voice, but a good sound engineer would know to adjust accordingly.

The main act hit the stage past 11, after a preview of their video clip for the single. The set consisted of a mixture of their more upbeat numbers (some including audience participation) and other slower songs. They are energetic and enthusiastic folk-pop performers who seem to feed off the energy of the audience. The band consists of a bass player, drummer, guitarist and keyboard player, plus the occasional guest appearance by a multi-instrumentalist fiddler, banjo, ukelele and piano accordian player. They lived up to expectations and I bought a copy of the single, although I'm really hanging out for the album now. Some of their songs are incredibly catchy and well constructed.

The set lasted an hour and a half, quite a feat for a band who are yet to release an album. It seemed slightly self indulgent, as if they were determined to make the most of headlining after being relegated to second or third on the bill up until now. It might just have been the difficulty in standing up for three hours, but by midnight I'd had enough. Anyway, definitely a band to watch out for. I look forward to their eventual album recording.