Live Review: Cloud Exchange @ Brisbane Hotel 11/07/10

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On the Sunday of 11th July 2010, Hobart's Brisbane Hotel fell into a hushed state as the first ever Cloud Exchange 'mini-festival' took place. Starting at 3 in the afternoon, this first instalment in what appears to be a recurring event adds a little extra touch to the Brisbane's line-up. Branded as a 'alt/softcore' event, candles littered the tables and cushions/pillows/rugs made up some seating in front of the stage. It was all awfully quaint, if you pardoned the greater pub environment.

Arriving after Ally Mok and The Steadfast Shepard had finished their sets, the next scheduled performance was set to be the unpolished guitar-folk of Alligator Creek. But for whatever reason, he simply never showed, creating the first hole in the Cloud Exchange line-up. This left me a little disappointed, since I enjoyed Alligator Creek the previous time I had seen him, and was looking forward to seeing how his music went down in a  quiet setting. Instead, the organiser pushed forward the next musician and Anthony Rochester came in early to fill the gap.

Seeming a touch flustered with the inconvenience, Anthony had decided upon a set without a backing track, and played simply with his guitar. If a little too stripped back, these songs squarely focused on Anthony's lyrics, which often caused a smile or laugh (?!) due to their honest and dead-pan nature. I don't know if they were intended to be funny, but they ended up creating more than a few wry smiles. Anthony's personality certainly added to this; he played (and spoke) as if he was playing to a group of close friends in a backyard. He played honest, no bullshit pop music - very likeable. The majority of the audience were attentive, outside of a few bar dwelling conversations, which is to be expected at the Brisbane. A video of one of Anthony's songs is available to watch.

bunny filled out the stage, and played a meandering style of down-tempo acoustica. Although not particularly delicate music - the four piece made full use of each instrument - it never commanded attention, and simply sat there. 'Softcore' music, I suppose. Although many of the guests enjoyed this set quite a lot, it never hooked me, doubly so as the set extended to nearly an hour in length to make up for the missing performance earlier. To be fair, this could be partially due to the fact that a number of the references and historical characters went over my head (living up to my adolescence, I suppose), but the music never excited me as much as I had hoped. Judge for yourself by watching a video from the set.

The recently born LD Ansolom played a short and sweet set, which sounded like shoegaze-influenced alternative pop music. While similarly laidback as bunny, LD Ansolom were simply my cup of tea. Arguably, they are just more interesting, even in their primitive incarnation. A few months ago, as part of a mixtape trading club, I received a cassette from Andy Brazendale, the singer/guitarist (and whom I suspect is the creative lead) of LD Ansolom. This cassette is filled with bands that seem to be the obvious inception point for LD Ansolom - Bowery Electric, Yo La Tengo, Bedhead, Flying Saucer Attack, et al. While the international analogs are their, as far as I can tell, there is little similar to LD Ansolom in Tasmania. Whether this is representative of the sample size of Tasmanian music or the band in question, that's something else entirely. Either way, consider me intrigued.

The band finished with a cover of Billy Whims' Don't Go Down That Road, but only after inviting Bridget from Billy Whims to sing on stage for the song. It was pleasant.

With the next act, Transcription of Organ Music, having to pull out because of laryngitis, a second blank spot unfortunately appeared on the line-up. Billy Whims graciously played a short guitar-only set to fill in for the missing performance. I've been eager to see Billy Whims for a while, so this little addition was a personal pleasure. Her set was made up of half covers (including Grand Salvo, Postal Service) and half original pop songs. The impromptu set was greatly appreciated from both the crowd and the organiser, who filmed a few minutes.

Finally, the adequate Home Band ended the night. I had to leave halfway through their set, but I wasn't too fussed as they didn't illicit much at all in my mind. The band seemed energetic, and almost convinced me that they just wanted to have some fun, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. Parts of the instrumentation and song writing felt rather cheesy, which might be why I viewed the band as one that played simply for their own/their friends enjoyment.

The event as a whole, though, was enjoyable and succeeded in creating a relaxed atmosphere. It reminded me of last year's Melodica gigs, which were held in alternative venues such as a church hall, usually resulting in music sets where nothing but the performer could be heard. I only managed to attend one of these Melodica shows in 2009, but it was a highly relaxed experience; something that the Cloud Exchange was somewhat reminiscent of - the audience is there primarily for the music. Unlike Melodica, though, the Cloud Exchange was held at the Brisbane Hotel, which means the financial risk for the organisers involved is much less. While both approaches have their pros and cons (Melodica - all ages, ultra relaxed, soup & home made food, etc; Cloud Exchange - financial security, bar/alcohol, cooked meals from the Brisbane), the first Cloud Exchange was pretty successful in reaching its goals.

Cloud Exchange is set to continue, with another show planned for August 29th.