Live Review: Abbe May, Mike Noga

A mid-week gig brings out the real enthusiasts, and here shows some of the change in Abbe May's music and audience. There's a couple of old blues crusties who've likely been there since the Rockin' Pneumonia days, through a happy smattering of her loyal following of gay boys and girls, and a newer element of clean-cut young moderns who maybe hopped aboard with the latest bent but funky tone of quirky offerings like Are We Flirting.

Mike Noga is back in solo mode after full band/full album recitals of his towering King album. So, he's working out mixing in the narrative songs of that with his other smoky tunes of love holding together by threads such as Ballad Of An Ordinary Man ("This is about as jaunty as it's gonna get") and King's closing confession of need This Is For You, all delivered with his so-human, sandpapery voice.

"Hello, I'm Delta Goodrem," is Abbe May's self-introduction. But we are not fooled. Delt's probably wouldn't howl/threaten/plead "I love you I love you I love you..." then spool out jagged spirals of guitar like that against Luke Minness' keyboards - which seem to go from modern electro through T.R.O.U.B.L.E.'s stuttery insistence to disco-era cascades. They even encourages some old-style dirty dancing down front, and onto another taste of the next album in Bitchcraft - which also displays this bluesy-electro hybrid that now kinda defines May.

Launching new single Doomsday Clock is the ostensible purpose of this tour, and it ticks ominously at you as she steps down off the stage to bond and howl with the faithful. Her music slinks and scratches by turns, and drags the crowd in with her. She's running this game real well right now.