I’ve been listening to Jordie Lane ever since I was a fresh faced little teenager, and got to see him perform live as part of last year’s Rubber Soul Revolver tour at Hamer Hall. This time however, I got to see Jordie Lane singing Jordie Lane songs, with two amazing acts helping make the night great.
The first support of the night was the ridiculously talented songwriter Leah Senior – my plus one was desperate to get there bright and early so we wouldn’t miss a single word, and it was worth it. With introductions such as ‘this is a song about autumn and my stupid ex-boyfriend’, Leah would journey through songs with surprisingly simplistic yet powerful lyrics- she’s got a daft hand for a great metaphor, and a beautiful hand for stringed instruments.
Sweet Jean took to the stage next, and they were a perfect balance between the sweet melodic vocals of Senior and the sometimes more country folk leanings of Jordie Lane himself. They handled the heckles from the crowd beautifully (yes, there were heavily bearded old men heckling. God knows why), and sang many a ballad of vengeful murder and a great rearrangement of a Peggy Seeger song (misheard by my friend as a ‘pretty seagull’ tune).
Among the heckling, the audience also seemed pretty happy to chat loudly through both support acts, which was just generally kinda shitty. Not sure if that’s just the vibe of Fridays at the Gaso or what, but it was a bit disappointing for the artists.
People definitely shut up when Jordie appeared though – I’d go as far as to say that Jordie is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard, and as far as song recommendations go, these two hold my heart dearly.
When Jordie dramatically complained about the heat and flung his hat into the audience, someone to my left gasped equally dramatically – for his most recent music video, Jordie had two people take to his slightly iconic longer locks with scissors, all for the sake of art. Or maybe just a tax-deductible haircut.
I haven’t been to the Gasometer Hotel for over a year, and I never imagined you could fit so many people inside – the OHS nerd in me was slightly concerned about the dozens of people on the staircase, but Jordie made them promise to move if there was a fire so that made it perfectly fine.
Along with his band, Jordie had on stage the inimitable Clare Reynolds, with a voice that sounded made to sing alongside his. The two have been touring around the U.S. with their dilapidated guitar case Betty doubling as an effective drum. There were a few completely beautiful moments, with a stare across the audience showing so many people with their heads tilted back and lips mouthing along to the beautiful lyrics – all in all, it was a little like a religious experience, with everyone jumping in to sing along to the prettiest darn version of ‘You Are My Sunshine’, a perfect ending to the night.
-Jasmin
Jasmin Ashton is a PR whiz and freelance writer/designer from Melbourne who has a lot of feelings about pretty much everything. Find her at @Jasmanna.
For more of Jordie Lane’s music, and to find out when he next tours, visit jordielane.com.
