First gig of ’22. Can you believe it? This year will be my second year writing blog posts! On Thursday night I went off to see Paper Kites and Hollow Coves with a good friend of mine (S) and what a lovely night it was! We saw them for their first show of the night (which has pros and cons – pros mainly to do with getting home to bed earlier and cons mainly to do with awkward timing for dinner). I had been looking forward to it for a while (it was postponed due to everyone’s least favourite friend aka covid).
If I were to choose one word for the night it would be cinematic. Truly. It was also super exciting because Princess Theatre has newly opened and it is such a beautiful venue! It’s Queensland’s oldest-standing theatre. It only reopened in October last year so it was pretty cool to see it host live music. The atmosphere of the night was magical – excellent acoustics if you ask me.
It was the first time Paper Kites had performed in two years which was exciting to bear witness to. I saw them aeons ago with my dad so I had an idea of what they were like but it was nonetheless BREATHTAKING. Hollow Coves were also an absolute delight to have onstage to prep the audience with some beautiful acoustic ballads.
Paper Kites are a talented bunch from Melbourne that play delightful indie rock-folk-pop tunes. They’ve been around a little while now (formed in 2009) and released their fifth album last year (Roses). Their album Roses features 10 talented female artists. Listen to Paper Kite’s podcast ‘Between The Houses‘ for more details on that album. It’s also just a nice podcast. Their sound has changed a bit over the years as any band does. What began as quite folky from their first album ‘Bloom’, transformed into sadder, yet equally as beautiful pop-folk kinda music. Music that is well-suited to a bus ride home at night or a quiet night in (that could be just me).
Hollow Coves started the night off… They’re an indie-folk-acoustic duo representing Brisbane in the best way. They played a lovely, intimate set, chatting of sweet anecdotes about different songs along the way. My favourite song of theirs is definitely their most popular song, Coastline. If you want to hear a song to cheer you up and reflect on all the goodness that life has in store for you, amid challenging times – listen to Blessings.
Like I said — Paper Kites produced a cinematic performance. A real treat. Everything was well thought out. Not only was a super talented band up on stage playing but they were backed by crisp sound quality, alongside stage lights that highlighted different vibes of the songs. Sam and Cristina’s beautiful voices echoed throughout the theatre. Chills. All night. They have so many good songs but they only have so long on stage!
They played one of my favourite songs Electric Indigo with matching INDIGO lights. Very cool. They brought out the banjo to play another of my favs, St. Clarity. They played the track Climb on Your Tears (feat. Aoife O’Donovan) from their latest album which stuck out to me for its thought-provoking lyrics and dreamy guitar.
Once they had eased the crowd in, they got the crowd involved in the singing which I LOVE. When everyone in the theatre was singing the words ‘by my side’, in their song By My Side (feat. Rosie Carney) I could’ve burst with joy. Although, I will say – the crowd could’ve put a little more oomph in but look, we were all a bit nervy, it was a Thursday night and we probably hadn’t all had our dinner yet (myself included). They played Bloom, near the end of the night – the whole band gathered around the microphone and serenaded the audience. Catchy and cute. Tick and tick.
It hurts me to flaw Paper Kites in any way shape or form. But alas, I have to be honest with you. They did not play an encore. I repeat. They did not play an encore. My heart was shattered. Just kidding. Remember, I got to go home at a decent hour meaning I had enough time to play wordle with my dad before the night was over. I might also add, I don’t believe they played Woodland which, is a fantastic song. You should listen to it (amongst all the other linked ones), it’s more upbeat – I imagine myself running through a field of daisies. However, Paper Kites can really do no wrong in my books.
This gig well and truly restored my faith in the magic of live music (it never really left). I will continue to say that going to live music brings me so much joy and I hope will continue to do so. A marvelous evening watching a marvelous band with a marvelous friend. What more can a gal want?
clara x 2022
clara writes 