Sometimes it’s good to take a leap of faith and discover a new artist in a live setting, like this Melbourne-based singer-songwriter with a truly phenomenal voice.
I got invited to this gig by a friend, and was keen to break up the live music drought stretching before me until November. Plus, after almost thirty years in Melbourne, I’ve never set a foot inside the iconic Hotel Esplanade a.k.a. The Espy in St Kilda, so this was as good chance as any.
I rarely go out to St Kilda in the evening unless it’s for a concert, so I always forget that finding a parking space past a certain point at night, even a paid one, can be like finding a unicorn. In the end we gave up and parked for free a fair way away, which gave me a chance to walk off the scrumptious goat curry I had for dinner (I then ruined it by topping it off with a pecan slice from one of the Acland Street cake shops).
The Gershwin Room at the Espy turned out to be an interesting live venue, a long rectangle decorated in Art Nouveau style, now peeling and grungy and not without a shabby charm. Initially we stayed at the back for the opening act, another Melbourne artist going by the name of Queenie, an engaging performer with a long mane of red hair. The heating inside was working overtime and the room remained uncomfortably hot and stuffy until they finally let in some cold air mid-show.
Prior to the concert I’ve only heard one song by Grace Cummings, and her magnificent voice is the first thing you notice. It’s elemental in its power, with ragged and worn edges and layers of vulnerability underneath. It sounds so mature it was a surprise to find out that she’s a much younger woman than I’d have imagined, however she quickly revealed an onstage confidence and swagger of a seasoned performer. Early on, Grace unfortunately disappeared from my view as she performed a few songs on a piano, but things improved once she picked up a guitar. You might be at a concert to listen to an artist, but it does make a big difference when you can actually see them.
Of course, the drawback of going in cold without listening to the music is that the unfamiliar songs might not grab you immediately. For me the show was carried by the raw, devastating force of Grace’s voice, but the jury’s still out on whether her songs really stand out in the ocean of similar blues/gospel/folk/country-tinged fare. A couple of new songs from Ramona, her most recent album, did hook me in, which I always see as an encouraging sign that I might just need to give an artist a more thorough listen. As it stands, both friend and I enjoyed the concert despite the ridiculous overheating, and I’d definitely see Grace live again.
P.S. On the way out, we passed by a crowd of mainly twenty-somethings dancing wildly to ABBA’s Dancing Queen. I can’t decide if the sight of young people singing along with a nearly fifty year-old song is endearing or kinda depressing.
yggdrasille.com 