Augie March

The Australian band Augie March have a distinctive knack for beautiful, well-thought-out lyrics, resonant piano playing and a selection of lead guitar riffs that could carry you to the moon. Glen Richards the uber-talented lead singer has a wonderful voice, he manages the strained and poetically pained stretches in a similar way to Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug although without any of the pretence. His honesty and realism really come through when he’s singing, like he’s telling you a secret and knows you won’t tell anyone. His relationship with the audience was another painless part of the experience, like we were old friends and this is how he’s chosen to catch up. He’s the ultimate story teller.
The blissfully jazz-influenced piano really made the gig for me, I found myself watching the pianist, wondering where he would go next, I didn’t know what was improvised and what was planned but either way it was mesmerising. The band brought with them a brass section for a number of songs and the sound flooded the room, adding an extra string to their already impressive bow.
Crowd favourite One Crowded Hour came on last, heavily influenced by Dylan, both in the rushed, trying to get as many lyrics in as humanly possible and the distinctive repetitive chord progression. It was impossible not to enjoy, and I left completely satisfied.

This gig would have been the fourth or fifth time I'd seen Augie live, and was probably my favourite.

I'd never been to the Melbourne Recital Hall before - man it's an amazing space. The sound in that room was next level.

Anyways, hearing Augie March play a lot of the older Waltz/Sunset Studies era stuff in a room where the quiet/loud dynamic sounds crystal clear was perfect. If these guys play another posh venue, I'll definitely go again.