Live Review: Fraser A Gorman, Hachiku, Smirk

First up and playing their first-ever show tonight is Smirk. A four-piece instrumental outfit utilising guitars and keys, Smirk present soothing soundscapes that evoke gentle ocean waves lapping against a shore. There's a suave, towering, dark-haired multi-instrumentalist up there who bears an uncanny resemblance to Paul Dempsey. Wait, it is Dempsey!

Woody McDonald DJs between the bands and it's awesome to see him spinning vinyl, holding up record sleeves and curating songs the old-fashioned way.

Anika Ostendorf is a member of Fraser A Gorman's current backing band so it makes sense that her Hachiku moniker scores support duty. Fronting this four-piece band, Ostendorf expertly incorporates samples while singing, playing guitar and also keys. The drummer really mixes it up with mallets and various woodblock sounds, which adds further texture to Hachiku's already intricate sonic tapestry. Sparkling melodies pour forth and Ostendorf's confessional banter is hilarious as always. We're told she can’t remove her thick, woolly jumper because she only has thermals underneath and no bra. Then Ostendorf reveals she spent all day ironing Hachiku tote bags, which she adds come with a three-month guarantee “until they might break”. We just wish we could hear her lyrics more clearly in order to completely immerse ourselves in this endearing artist's musical universe.

As soon as Fraser A Gorman appears on stage wearing trademark black shirt with white polka dots under swish blazer, punters shoosh each other. He opens the set solo, accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica, and immediately captivates. Then on strolls his superb backing band - Ostendorf on guitar/keys/BVs, Holly Thomas on drums/BVs, and Jarrad Brown on bass/BVs - to perform Easy Dazy, the album Gorman launches in its entirety this evening. There’s even brass on incandescent opener My Own Sunshine thanks to Liam McGorry on trumpet plus a saxophonist. As the song's jubilant brass outro washes over us, we know we're in for one helluva night. 

The brass duo leave the stage before Walking To Oman's, leaving four musicians up there, all of whom contribute to glorious harmonies. Brown looks over at Gorman, ensuring his mouth movements are perfectly in sync. Gorman tells us his latest album Easy Dazy was so named because he thought it sounded like a JJ Cale album title. And Gorman's buddy Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard) is even present to play his flute parts in Wait For My Love! 

Gorman shares that New England is about feeling homesick while touring England, which he explains is a country that lacks good fruit and decent weather. He then cheekily acknowledges he’ll have to come up with another intro for this song when performing in England down the track. Two excited fanboys front and centre sing along with every lyric to every song. Gorman solicits our applause for Ostendorf, who impressively juggles that shimmering guitar tone with keys flourishes and wistful BVs throughout.


After Gorman ditches his guitar, Mackenzie is on hand to take up extra guitar duties while the man of the hour struts across the front of the stage during Silence Turns To Gold, hamming up lyrics with descriptive gestures. During album closer St Joes Street, a spontaneous crowd singalong is the tonic: "I just wanna say how good it feels/Just to know your face."


That's the album done, but we all want more so Gorman and co return for an encore. Gorman says he wrote Broken Hands when he was five and a few stragglers make a last-ditch dash down front for a jump around. It's smiles on all dials both on stage and off. We feel chuffed to collectively bask in Gorman's brilliance this evening and exit through Howler's front bar with springs in our steps.