Matthew Levinson

Sodastream at Toast, Canberra (23/10/2005)

Published on 25/10/05
by matt

Feeling quite happily dazed after a delicious roast duck and won ton noodle soup at Tak Kee Roast in Dickson and a very full weekend in Canberra, our bunch of friends lethargically motored down to Toast bar in Civic. It was always my favourite bar in Canberra when I lived in the capital city and returning to town for the weekend it doesn’t seem to have lost any of its charm – though it has attracted some rather weird bits of venue sculpture, including a bizarre big fish over the bar.

Sodastream kicked off early – 8pm – with no supports. Fortunately we arrived promptly, found a spot near the front and relaxed with a beer. They took the stage. Karl Smith played lovely rich tones through his lovely deep brown Fender acoustic guitar (and equally vintage Fender amp), while singing sometimes plaintive, sometimes bitter/sharp and usally melancholy songs clearly at odds with his skinny frame, close-fitted tee-shirt and Brett Anderson/Jarvis Cocker good looks. Pete Cohen, a tall broad-shouldered guy with scraggly long hair, played a big double bass, sometimes plucking, somtimes whipping it with a bow, sometimes almost percussively tapping it with his bow, his deep voice contrasted wildly with Karl’s.

It was the perfect wind-down to such a hectic weekend, their songs melted around us like thick chocolate, plenty of songs from the new EP (highlights including ‘Keith & Tina’ and ‘Steeps & Hollows’) and a handful from previous albums.

Later Pete put down his bass on the stand and pulled over a chair, balanced a wood saw between his knees, grasped the sharp end with his left hand, twisted the saw slightly and wobbled it playing the bow along its edge with his right hand. It was a pretty magical sound – I noticed it on the EP but thought it was a mellotron or a Moog or something – he calls it Musical Saw. Karl played his Roland keyboard for a while, but it had a cold metallic sound compared to the rich tones of the guitar and bass.

The crowd was transfixed, a little too taken by the set in fact. Each song was met with applause and at the end of the set the polite clapping was obviously not enough for the band who didn’t give an encore, even though the setlist had a couple of extra encore numbers jotted down.

Read my review of Sodastream’s Take Me With You When You Go EP at Stylus and if can, go see them.

Listen to Blinky, Otherwise Open and Lushington Hall (hosted by Sodastream).

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