The stage curtain was closed. Behind it, a party was being devised. Or more likely it wasn’t, but once it opened and revealed Australia’s The Babe Rainbow on stage, a party was started nonetheless.
The band had just released their new album, The Organic Band, three days prior, so there was plenty worth celebrating. They appropriately opened their set with the album’s first track, “Inner Space,” though from there it was a healthy mix of new and old, actually skewing toward the old. But it didn’t really matter what was played, every last song exuded dance party vibes. There wasn’t a face without a smile or an ass without a shaking in the comfortably crowded venue. With all due respect to Disney, on Monday October 17, Photo City Music Hall in Rochester was the happiest place on Earth.
The stage sat mere inches off the dance floor which provided ample opportunity for the band and crowd to converge in revelry. Early in the show, lead singer Angus Darling was off the stage dancing and singing from the crowd. “Good dance moves, let’s keep it up!” “Planet Junior” with Jack Crowther’s slinky guitar and unavoidable groove did indeed keep it up, as did “Supermoon,” which had drummer Miles Myjavec bouncing in his seat as he laid down another badass beat.
While there are elements of surf in the music, though not much in there to inspire crowd surfing, but that didn’t stop one woman from cruising above the crowd during the loungy “Peace Blossom Boogy.” More appropriate to the vibe, a dance circle broke out during “Monky Disco,” individuals showing off their moves to the encouraging onlookers while Elliot O’Reilly facilitated with some brilliant bass work.
The party was on stage, in the audience, and backstage. Tour mates seventies tuberide would frequently pop out onto the stage to join in the fun, throwing bananas or paper towels into the crowd (not in a natural-disaster-photo-op kind of way, but more of a this-is-the-most-festive-stuff-we-have-on-hand kind of way), and even, the more usual collaboration of playing together. On “Eureka,” announced as The Babe Rainbow theme song, the bass player and drummer came out to add percussion and extra stage energy, jumping all over the stage. There would be more percussion accompaniment added from members of Maybird as well during the encore performance of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.”
Local psychedelic band Maybird opened the show. They’ve been a bit quiet lately, even though they put out a new album earlier this year, a trippy song cycle based on Alice in Wonderland. Their set included a few selections from that, like the psych-disco “Lost in Wonderland” with it’s swelling keys, and the ethereal “I’ll Miss You When I Wake Up.” Maybird’s music improves as it thickens, each added layer adds exponential possibilities. For this set, the core trio of Josh and Adam Netsky and Overhand Sam were joined by Cian (sax) and Shane McCarthy (bass) from Mikaela Davis’s band, Sam Hirsh on keys and Greg Maslyn on percussion. They flexed their collective muscle immediately with the set-opening take on “Maybird,” the usual hectic ending going extra heavy and deep with the added power. The set continued to excite with more classic Maybird material like “Don’t Keep Me Around,” “Gonna Lose Your Mind,” and “Turning Into Water,” each benefiting and sounding spectacular with the extra contributions. We can only hope that a quiet 2022 begets a more active year ahead for the band.
California trio seventies tuberide, also touring with a just out new album, played a slow motion punk grunge. Their tube was riding through a river drenched in reverb. Three-part harmonies, guitars, bass and drums all blended into one singular force. Their songs and band name are all intentionally listed in lower case, which perfectly matches their style. “favorite year love letter” and “skin, hair oil” typified their downbeat punk, while a pre-recorded track and sit-ins from Jack Crowther and Miles Myjavec added a little oomph to “completely dry.” Their short 20 minute set closed with Crowther continuing on in support of “sunday,” which had a nice slow and groovy “Walk On the Wild Side“-esque bass line.
The Babe Rainbow at Photo City Music Hall was just about as much fun as could be had on a Monday night. Let’s do it again next week!
