Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane Australia

Everything about this gig should have been fantastic.  The atmosphere was lovely;  intimate (only 80 tickets were sold), bathed in red light with the audience lounging around on persian rugs and floor cushions and relaxed feel from the various band members and crew.  Liz Harris took some time to relax and read a magazine sitting with her audience to be in the foyer, before the doors opened. However, the night did not quite live up to expectation.

Starting with Ian Wadley, the audience patiently listened to what was thought to be him tuning his guitar, until 15 minutes into the performance when incredulous looks began to pass from face to face and the realisation dawned that this was in fact his set.

The Rational Academy played a solid set mostly from their latest album “A Heart Against Your Own” as well as a lively new track. The audience seemed to appreciate the change of pace and the band looked like they were enjoying themselves, moving out into the audience from time to time creating a more interactive feel.

When Liz Harris took the stage, and a stillness descended upon the room, you could tell this was who everyone had come to see. She began her set with what sounded like “Disengaged” from “Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill”, however it was difficult to tell. The usual distortion and sonic wind type of noise that characterises her music all but drowned out everything else.   After some requests to the sound crew there was some improvement, and it was possible to catch her voice through the loops of bells, distortion and guitar effects.

Most of the set comprised material from “Wide” and perhaps some new material although with the sound issues, it was difficult to be sure. Disappointingly, there was very little, if any from Dragging a Dead Deer or “Way They crept”.

You can listen to three full tracks by Grouper, including her latest “False Horizon” here :

http://www.myspace.com/grouperrepuorg

And you can hear all four tracks from her EP “Grouper & Inca Ore split” on last fm:

Grouper on last fm