Little Red - Corner Hotel - 24th April 2008
Featuring: Little Red
Written by: Ed Butler
Published: Apr 24th '08
There just aren’t enough bands that allow two blokes to sing into the same microphone. But with their ‘50s doo-wop meets ‘60s roots, Melbourne locals Little Red fit the bill eminently. On Thursday, ANZAC Day eve, they headlined their first show at the venerable Corner Hotel, managing to do a respectable job of filling the decidedly larger Corner on the eve of a public holiday.
The evening’s festivities managed to expose more Melbourne music fans to the ever-growing talents of Little Red’s live show. It’s difficult to praise the performance of a band which Wireless Bollinger included in its ’10 Bands to Watch’ issue last year without appearing to be justifying some of the site’s own hype. But it is also difficult not to be staggered by the vast gulf in quality between Little Red’s earlier shows a year or so ago, and the increasingly professional outfit that strode confidently to centre stage.
With every performance, Little Red seem to have added new songs to their expanding repertoire, and the night opened with a number of tracks that were relatively virginal. In fact, the first half of the set was devoid of songs that once peppered their earlier gigs, tracks like ‘Waiting’, ‘Coca Cola’ and the centrepiece, ‘ Witchdoctor’, all having to wait their turn. Instead, there were songs like ‘Stare in the Face of Love’, and ‘We Get High’, each borrowing more from their Eric Burden-era Animals roots, rather than the café-from-Happy Days sound of their earlier days. Perhaps this is an indication of the overarching sound that will emerge on their debut album.
So, in the interests of shamelessly pushing the WB agenda, Little Red indeed remain a band to watch, although it is unlikely you’ll need to go to as much effort to see them in the future: they’ll probably be finding you. Can’t wait for July to roll on.
