Review: Kim

[Photo: Stuart Blythe]

Lisa Mitchell, Oh Mercy and White Birds & Lemons played to a Sold Out Show at the Zoo on Friday 28th August 2009 in the 1st Night of the tour to promote Lisa Mitchell’s 2nd album Wonder which debuted on July 31, 2009. 4 piece band White Birds & Lemons originally from Devonport on the North Shore of Auckland, but now living in Melbourne totally wowed the fans at the Zoo on Friday night. Using an electronic drumset which you don’t see much of with live bands, they had the crowd swaying and nodding to their techno-pop rock songs. Playing songs from their first album “Who Says You’re Free?” and more, they left the punters on a high. After listening to their song “Gambler” on their website, White Birds & Lemons are even better live. Can’t wait for a new album to arrive. White Birds & Lemons were a good selection for the 1st band on a great night of entertainment.

Oh Mercy who are also promoting their new demo album “Privileged Woes” came on stage to a crowd that was slowly growing. Thomas Savage on guitar kept us all entertained with outstanding guitar riffs while the soft husky croon of vocalist Alexander Gow wooed the fans at the front of the stage. Oh Mercy has a laid back, dreamy type of sound interspersed with a couple of toe tapping songs like “Can’t Fight It” and “Lay Everything on Me”. Overall not a bad performance.

Finally, it was 11:45 pm. The Zoo was so crowded that you could barely move. Everyone was talking, a continuous noise that was instantly cut off when a little girl voice whispered through the air. All eyes turned to the stage. There was Lisa Mitchell, head down, hair hiding her face, singing quietly into the microphone. The room suddenly erupted into cheers and whistles, with people jostling each other, trying to get to the front of the stage. Her little girl voice was a stark contrast to – what sounded like – tribal drums to Lisa’s 1st song of the night “Heroine.”

The fans eagerly lapped up each and every one of Lisa’s songs. They sang along to “Clean with Love” and “So Jealous”, obviously well known and loved hits.

By the time Lisa sang “Stevie”, her shyness and timidity seemed to have disappeared and a professional stage presence emerged. Lisa took over the stage, dancing and clapping, full voiced and putting on a performance that the audience appreciated and seemed to enjoy immensely.

When Lisa sang the phrase “Do you have a dollar?” at the end of the song “Coin Laundry”, one of the audience threw a gold coin onto the stage. Lisa quickly picked it up. “Oh, it’s a $2 coin, I’m rich!” earned a few good laughs from the crowd.

With the closing bars of “Neopolitan”, the crowd roared when they realised that this was the last song of Lisa’s set. The fans were stomping, clapping, cheering and jumping up and down. To the delight of the crowd, Lisa returns to the stage and does a solo keyboard performance with her song “Love Letter”.

The rest of Lisa’s band enthusiastically takes to the stage for the final song of the night “Oh! Hark!”. The crowd screams and jumps up and down, almost but not quite outdoing the stage performance by Lisa and her band. Lisa Mitchell’s sold out, 1st night of her tour, promises much for her future. An outstanding performance.