live @ the kitten club

photograph by Carly Haddad

concert review

by Michael Prichard

Tony Starr’s Kitten club is nestled in a tiny lane in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD and has played host to a whole subculture of Melbourne’s alternative musicians over the past few years. People come here to listen to something different and that was exactly what I was promised when I went along to see Amarevois in November.

Sidling up to the bar, the room was three quarter full when the band made there way from amongst the crowd itself to the stage. Amarevois on piano and vocals, Robert Bell on drums and Clint Quan on bass. First up was a slow funky number ‘Older than Stars’ and then an epic that must have spanned 20 minutes in ‘An Undermining’ followed by the 80’s sounding ballad ‘3rd Age of Becoming’. Amarevois seemed a little nervous throughout the first few songs, but seemed to settle down in the Marvin Gaye style of ‘Rising’ and the upbeat jazz funk of ‘Now of Never’.

A quick switch to guitar and out came the inner rock-god on bluesy tunes like ‘The One’ and ‘Sentimental Parting’. Some perfect pop rock followed in ‘Burning the Temples’ and surprisingly, a cover of Seal’s ‘Lost my Faith’ which was pretty cool, because quite a few audience members were singing the backing harmonies. ‘Shine it On’ was the penultimate song, a light Latino infused funk with a seductive and emotional vocal. During the extremely funky breakdown and band intros, amarevois told the crowd repeatedly that ‘this is funk, Melbourne’. I’m not sure what that was about. Perhaps she thought they didn’t know it, but we felt it, I can assure you! Sarah Burrowes guested on trumpet in this and several other tracks to good effect.

The last song was the rock anthem ‘Possible Peaceful’ during which you could have heard a pin drop. It was a very Purple Rain moment and clinched for me the truth that this artist is going all the way to the biggest arenas possible.

I spoke to Amarevois briefly after the show and she seemed somewhat relieved. “I haven’t played live in a long time and I wasn’t really sure if I would remember how to do it” she told me. “tomorrow will be better” she smiled. That was all there was time for, because she had to go and start packing up! No roadies!

I would have liked to have seen a few more band members to fill out the sound a bit more, but perhaps that was limited by the cramped nature of the venue. The stage was spread out across the back wall and the players lost touch with each other energetically speaking, at times. Also, the set up of the PA in the kitten club meant that depending on where you were standing, whole tracts of detail and instrumentation were utterly lost in the bouncing around of the sound in the room. I didn’t really care though in the end, because I thought it was a great show. I think I’ll be back to morrow (just to check to see if it really is better!).

kindly reprinted with permission ©2006
Michael Prichard
freelance writer
In Press

concert review

by Peter Kent

I had the good fortune the other night to catch Amarevois live at the Kitten Club, and was very glad for having rocked up on the evening.

When Amarevois sings, you can tell she was meant to do it. There’s a quality to her voice that is earthy, real, and engaging, as well as being a tad ‘other worldly’, and she definitely knows how to use and explore it, demonstrating amazing control and colour in her repertoire of vocal tone and phrasing.

The girl has a natural effervescent vitality to her, and a wild vivacous smile. Quite the diva in part, seeming very much at home in the performer’s persona, with a little of the cabaret lounge, the show girl, and even stadium artist about her, and yet hard to classify or put in a box. Theatrical in presentation, with a fabulous outfit, and emanating a glow that goes beyond the sequins gleaming from the bejewelled black costume.

Her lyrics are poetically rich and intrigueing, and they complement her tremendous musicality. The audience enjoyed witnessing her transiting effortlessly from the mistress of the piano (with those lush long chords and ambient major sevenths) to the grunge and gusto of a ‘rock funk chick’, as she steps from behind the piano to the front of the stage and begins power strumming a few chords and riffs on a low hung, slightly beaten up electric guitar.

‘Gothic Jazz’ is one term that’s been coined to encapsulate her ‘genre’, and this is certainly an apt description for some of her haunting, almost epic compositions, but there’s also a lot more to Amarevois than could ever obey categorisation.

She’s original, and exudes a refreshing authenticity in her obvious passion for what she does. In her set of just over an hour this lady provided the room with a captivating show. It was like catching an international act in the casual recesses of a Melbourne nightspot. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Peter Kent
Songwriter/Musician

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