Megan Washington at The Forum - concert review

There are some musicians I wish I'd known about before they hit the big time. And others I heard about because they'd hit the big time. Megan Washington fits into both of these categories. I've loved her music since early last year and her debut album I Believe You Liar has been on constant rotation. She was my favourite thing about last year's ARIAs. I'd booked a ticket to see her last year but I missed the show due to illness. So I was excited to see her touring again and snapped up a ticket on the day of release.

I saw her live on Friday night and I have to say, I was disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I felt there was something lacking.

She can sing so well. Her voice is pretty amazing. And she's written great, danceable songs (my favourites at the concert were Sunday Best, Rich Kids and Cement) and also some slower songs (I love Underground and it was so moving on Friday) and also songs about 'shame and pity' - her words.

The show was packed with pretty young things, in cool clothes sourced from the op-shop, who looked like Frankie and Yen readers, after alternative intelligent musical role models compared to the offerings of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry (I also fit most of this profile!). Most of the girls and guys around me looked like they enjoyed the show - singing and dancing their big Australian music loving hearts out. I sang along too. But I still left the concert underwhelmed.

Megan Washington has a sexy stage presence. Her dress was amazing. She bared milky skin on her arms and shoulders, sultry eyes, and a short dress that at times would have aroused the boys and girls in the room. She moves on stage like she's having sex. Standing at the keyboard, her legs writhe, her shoulders are languid. I was envious of her body. She's beautiful.

But a sexy stage presence is all she has. She lacks charisma. I love the banter musicians make between songs. Megan Washington told stories - one about a man in the US who carried a sword, another about how she tried not to swear at an all ages gig, but they weren't that funny or heartfelt and a times were a bit nervously delivered. The best bit was when she said she was told Lisa Mitchell was prettier than her at a show she played on her birthday in Tarthra, and her drummer asked if she had a dollar.

At times she came across precocious - playfully mocking a guy who asked her to play Sunday Best midway through the set - she replied along the lines of 'do you really expect me to play that now?  Have you ever been to a gig? Do you understand the natural progression of a gig?'. And someone asked her to tell a joke - fair enough she is a singer - but her reply was 'the comedy festival is over', said in quite a sarcastic way.

 

She admitted she was drunk. Maybe that explains these comebacks. While she wasn't hideously messy-drunk, I thought the drunkeness hampered the show. I heard some guys after the show say she'd put heaps of swearing into songs where originally they didn't feature swearing. A lot of the time she sort of looked tired and somewhat bored - she flopped her arms over the keyboard or hung doubled over nearly touching the ground - I wondered if she was going to fall over, or was she just playing with passion?

I spoke with some people while walking out of the show after it'd finished. They said they were disappointed too - they thought she just played without feeling. They found her pretentious. And didn't think she did much to get the crowd going. I told friends of mine I was sad to be disappointed by her concert. 'She has no charisma! Seen her at Falls and it was a let down. Very uninteresting', J said. Another friend said 'I was  disappointed to find that she was not particularly engaging at Falls'. And lastly, C said ' I agree. also disappointed when I saw her at Falls :( great voice though! Also I really want to like her more and I remember thinking/hoping she'd have been better in a more intimate setting before she'd hit the big time...'

 

I have struggled with writing this. I hope to only write good reviews here. But I can't be won over by every band I see, and I want to be honest. I wish I had seen Megan Washington before she hit the big time too. While she thanked the crowd for supporting her, and her music really sounded good, I don't think she gave enough of herself to us, or even was truly respectful. It's surprising given that she gives a lot of herself to her Facebook fans. I read this in depth interview on The Vine. She says 'I don't feel like being a musician is any different than my personal self. I feel like that's evident in my really close dialogue I have with everybody on Facebook and stuff. I want to be accountable'.

I want to try to change my mind about her. She's worked so hard for years at her craft. She's intelligent and quirky and a great writer. I love her music. So I am wondering why her onstage presence has disappointed me so much when I don't know her personally? I want to like her. I really do.

Triple J's Hottest 100 voting

(source)

I voted for Triple J's Hottest 100 again. It was a tough choice, and had to leave out a few of my favourites to get to my top 10.

I wanted a top 25 - with more Angus and Julia Stone and Washington, Sia, Sparkadia, Sarah Blasko, Boy and Bear, Pendulum (ABC theme), Sally Seltman, Kimbra, John Steele Singers and Gypsy and the Cat.

My top 10 - comprises mostly Australian artists:

Angus And Julia Stone - For You
Angus And Julia Stone - Hold On
Basement Birds - Bus Stop
Birds Of Tokyo - Plans
Gyroscope - Baby, I'm Getting Better
Kings Of Leon - The End
Little Red - Rock It
Paul Kelly/Angus Stone - Four Seasons In One Day
Washington - Sunday Best
Wombats, The - Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)

I've technically got four Angus and/or Julia Stone songs in my list.

I love Australian music!

My picks for number one are Washington's Sunday Best, Angus and Julia Stone's Big Jet Plane or Sia's Clap Your Hands. I know I didn't vote for two of those songs, but as I said, the choice was tough.

Isn't this video beautiful?


What is your top 10??

Megan Washington - Sunday Best at the 2010 ARIAs

This performance was so damn good it deserved its own separate blog entry.



I love it! The hair. The dancing. The singing. The feathers. The dress. Wow :)

Holy shit! You sure can turn it on!

2010 ARIA Awards. Wow. A train wreck.

The ARIA Awards came and went. Yawn. A wrap up is on The Age. For the uninitiated, the ARIAs are the Australian Record Industry Awards.

I don't recall them being this shitty. And full of ring-ins. As Brendan Maclean tweeted: 'Because when I think music I think: Bob Katter, Carmen Electra, Lara Bingle and Geoff Huegill.' The ARIAs were deemed a sellout by Jimmy Barnes this week. And its future was debated.

I was excited about the 'new guard' nominated for awards. Some quality artists. I thought those who attended and hosted the awards would be too. Pity the award show wasn't the same quality. I love Australian music and I expect more from the industry to honour and recognise our fine artists. It was shameful. And shambolic.

Most presenters seemed uninformed and disinterested. The main hosts didn't actually host. The logistics of the show were disorganised. Most performances other than Megan Washington's and Angus and Julia Stone's were lacklustre I hated it.

I read some incredibly funny tweets about the ARIA awards tonight. I loved the observations people made.

Here are my twitter comments as the awards unfolded (click on pictures for sources):

I wish Powderfinger could have played a classic song of theirs for their last TV performance. Passenger. These Days? #ARIAS

What has Rebel Wilson got to do with the Australian music industry?

Megan Washington and Yumi Stynes. Two new girl crushes. #ARIAS

Anti drug ads on in ARIA ad breaks. Do the musos at the ARIAS see the ad breaks? #ARIAS #justsaying

Bob Katter is like a cartoon character. Why is he there??? #ARIAS

Bob Katter needs to work on his pronunciation. 'Ah-rar-ia' #ARIAS

Sia has overtaken Connie from Sneaky Sound System for most interesting outfit at the #ARIAS. Connie now dressed by Cue?

I like the fact that Sia's dress can be reused to rope off the forecourt of the Opera House post #ARIAS
Is Sia just singing/ad-libbing over a recorded version of her song? Can't work it out, mesmorised by her dress. #ARIAS

Taking a phenergan for hayfever. It will be a race to see which puts me to sleep first. #ARIAS or phernergan?

Shut the fuck up British guy fawning to Carmen Electra. Australian music is NOT about Carmen Electra's body. #ARIAS

Clare Bowditch I hope you are correctly forecasting the rest of the ARIA awards when you said 'it just keeps getting better'. Please. #ARIAS

Powderfinger's announcement they're playing 2011 Big Day Out was met with NO RESPONSE. Is it a fable? #ARIAS

I just want to hear Rebel Wilson tell me how many minutes until someone turns the #ARIAS off at the switch.

Tim Rogers to Kasey Chambers: 'please, please can you tell me what the hell we're doing here' - quote of the night. #ARIAS

The guy from Jet is superfluous next to James Matheson. Good looking, but disinterested. And uninformed. 'their single from their album'

Stan Walker (neck tatt) couldn't read Dan Sultan's name. He needed Fuzzy to help. Idol clearly wasn't a remedial reading class. #ARIAS

Best bit of the #ARIAS = seeing Angus and Julia Stone's video clip.

I love how Angus Stone didn't dress up for the awards. It's like a middle finger to the trainwreck #ARIAS

Is that Ruby Rose's real hair? I can't keep up with her hair changes. #ARIAS

Megan Washington you are the best thing about the #ARIAS. Holy shit you sure can turn it on.

I love the feathers. And the dress. And the haircut. And the performance. I love Megan Washington. #ARIAS

Jess Mauboy pronounced 'debut' as de-butt. Again, clearly Idol wasn't remedial reading class. #ARIAS

Axl Whitehead, are you gonna get your wang out? It could make the night more interesting. #ARIAS

Yes indeed. The ARIAS are a little bit of a disappointment. Modern Family guy, you said it. #ARIAS

Angus and Julia Stone. Wow. :)

A 5 sec montage and a small, feint, clap? Seriously, James Freud deserved a bit more of a tribute than that.

Nat Bass is a trillion times more upbeat than Angus and Julia Stone. But I love The Stones a trillion times more.

Isn't someone legendary meant to close an awards show? Then why do we see Guy Sebastian close the #ARIAS?

>>End of tweeting. Following the Twitter feed was far more entertaining than the ARIAs.

I felt embarrassed by the ARIAs tonight. It has become less about the music and more about... well, I can't pin point what it's about. D-Grade celebs? Apathy? A clear disinterest in and lack of awareness about our fine artists? I hope if the awards continue, it won't be as bad as this year.

I can't find Megan Washington's gorgeous performance online yet. I have to find it!!

On a side note, this new romance was suggested today. Cute couple. Angus Stone and Isabel Lucas. Though I can't imagine they'd be too talkative around each other.