The Front Gallery & Cafe was lucky enough to have Sydney’s Little May stop by on their debut headline tour, with special guests Winterbourne. The Front is always a great venue regardless, but when combined with the presence of these two bands, it made for a particularly enjoyable night.
Winterbourne are proof that all you need is strong vocals, an acoustic guitar, a tambourine and a mandolin to sound great. And In fact, the mandolin provided some particularly impressive solos. Also noteworthy is Winterbourne’s strong song writing skills and their amusing on-stage banter. Basically, they were just very enjoyable to watch.
As were headliners, Little May. Right from their first song, it was clear they had presence and attitude, not to mention a collection of impressive electric guitars, boasting names of Gibson, Epiphone and Fender, and a Taylor acoustic.
Little May certainly take folk music to another level, blending it with their signature dark nuances and rocky riffs, and have developed a sound that is widely appealing and typically theirs, despite often being compared to a bunch of contemporary acts.
Their vocal harmonies are second to none. All three voices meld together to form a perfect, strong chorus of female vocals. Lead guitarist, Annie Hamilton, is a master of both sweet twinkling guitar, and driving riffs that take the music through a variety of different sounds and feelings. The three girls were also joined by Mark Harding on keyboard/guitar and the very talented Catriona Hunter on drums (with a tea towel placed over the snare), who both added greatly to the music and the band as a whole.
They played all five songs from their self-titled EP. The songs were musically rich, and translated very well from album into a live setting. Lead singer, Hannah Field, introduced these songs with quaint stories, for example telling us about their song Hide that was written in an hour in a hotel room during a drawn-out road trip to a gig in Melbourne. She gave a brief vocal rendition of the early version of the song complete with the lyrics ‘ooh, Vaseline’, before they launched into the proper version of the song. Hide was a highlight of the night, with lead vocals provided by both Hannah and singer/guitarist Liz Drummond.
The majority of the songs played were unreleased and therefore new to the audience, but they left everyone wanting to hear more. Their live show was dynamic, and they moved seamlessly from being a quiet, thoughtful folk band one moment, to being a rock band the next.
They’re very believable in their song writing and performing, and performed all their songs with a lot of feeling. It was obvious that they cared about their sound – when singing, they were particularly attentive to each other, and it certainly paid off.
Despite Little May’s recent run of fame, having signed international record deals and played some impressive support slots, they were all very down to earth, just doing their thing – playing good music and enjoying themselves.
They promised we’ll be seeing an album early next year, and it will be intriguing to hear what it will sound like – if their live set is anything to go by, it will not disappoint.
Photos by Steph Comfort
