These reviews are from the Jonathan Boulet support gig with Wolf Cub and Liddy at the The Metro Theatre, Sydney, on June 30.
Andrew Yorke writes:
…sporting cycling jerseys, the sextet perform stompy, churny, shouty, country-tinged, whiskey-soaked blues… the audience is left to their own devices in the longish gaps between songs, creating a relaxed vibe akin to watching a group of friends jam in a loungeroom.
…appeared a little disinterested in the whole performance, with their bass player spending most of the set with her back to the audience. However, the band’s incredibly impressive cover of the Bob Dylan track The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll made up for everything…
It seems like most, if not all, the R.L. Jones band are currently part of the Joseph Liddy & The Skeleton Horse lineup. The band seems to be gaining some momentum at the moment.
Ps, if you have never heard of Jonathan Boulet, give this a quick listen:
Despite being stylistically all over the shop, every single track on the record was dynamite. This would be no mean feat were it simply a ten track record but this thing is fourteen tracks deep and not once did they drop the ball. Whether it’s the funeral dirge that is ‘Black Death 1349′, the hook laden ‘Hunger Song’ or the nine minute acoustic ballad ‘Deep Water’, one can hear a strength in songwriting that transcends genre or mood.
It’s frustrating but also somehow admirable. Instead of simply writing a record of first-listen love affairs like ‘Blood’, the band is making us work. Making us actually listen hard, take our time, and scan the back pages for whatever meaning we may find.
It’s really fucking messy… Drunk dudes are yelling out, “Play ‘Blood’!”… They play it, of course; second last song, and it’s great. I wonder if it means anything to them anymore, or whether any such thing has been wrung out through repetition.
NormFraijo Listening to the KCRW broadcast from SXSW. They’ve played some good bands. I particularly liked the music from The Middle East. Australian. about 4 hours ago from web
TartyTart oh holy hell, i just turned on this track from The Middle East… now I’m truly jealous of you SXSW fuckers!!! :( about 18 hours ago from Brizzly
mattsdriscoll The Middle East – Solid band, solid melodies – beautiful songwriting. #SXSW Definitely worth checking out. They utilize a flute with skill about 24 hours ago from Tweetie
mattsdriscoll The Middle East is preparing to go on stage at the Paste Magazine party – or one of the many Paste parties. #SXSW. 1 day ago from Tweetie
MusicJunkeeee Low Anthem just finished. Black Prairie (Decemberists side project) and The Middle East up next at Paste party, Galaxy Room. #sxsw 1 day ago from Twitterrific
Slottsfjell Høydepunkter SXSW dag 1 stod blant annet Soko, Warpaint, The Middle East og The Morning Benders for. Ca en million band igjen å se bare. 1 day ago from web
jimmel more technical difficulties for the middle east. guitar and bass both cut out in the middle of their last song. #sxsw 1 day ago from txt
kyle_newman holy frack – THE MIDDLE EAST (fav new band btw) are playing in Austin!!! @sxsw just got a lot cooler 1 day ago from web
adamsam Wow. Just saw the middle east at sxsw. The collective subtlety of each performer makes for high distinction. Middleeastmusic.com 1 day ago from Seesmic
MattDentler You didn’t hear it here first, but mark my words: The Middle East may end up the buzz discovery of the #SXSW Music Festival. 1 day ago from web
jayzombie The Middle East is easily one of my top 10 bands in 2010, so far. Check ’em out if you haven’t. “Blood” is one of the gooduns. #sxsw 1 day ago from Tweetie
bvSXSW Sorry everyone tryin to get into Club DeVille – we don’t control the door and SXSW says it’s at capacity. The Middle East on now 1 day ago from Tweetie
jilliancyork RT @YallaStartup: Back from SXSW,Middle East panel went great, we’ll post the video soon. Lots of exciting announcements soon ! Next: Sil Valley 4 TechWadi ! 2 days ago from TweetDeck
YallaStartup Back from SXSW,Middle East panel went great, we’ll post the video soon. Lots of exciting announcements soon ! Next: Sil Valley 4 TechWadi ! 2 days ago from TweetDeck
RT @DBastiarPreneur: Jika kamu ingin bahagia, jangan biarkan masa lalu mengusikmu. Kamu boleh melihat ke belakang, namun jangan membawanya… 6 years ago
selamat pagi Tangerang, moga jalanan makin ngebul, pabrik makin ngebul, dapurpun ga kalah ngebul. :D 7 years ago