The Foundry is an earthy, intimate venue on Wickham Street that has a fresh vibe for a range of ages and comes with no pretentiousness. A great start to Gypsy & The Cat‘s latest East Coast tour ‘Inside your Mind‘ and a showcase of some of the new tracks from a surprise new release EP entitled ‘Hearts A Gun’. This marks the first of their much anticipated live shows in over two years.
Upbeat eighties tracks set the mood of anticipation for an electric indie, dream pop night to follow and there was no dissatisfaction amongst the chilled out, feel good crowd. A lot has happened in the last 8 years for the two former Melbourne DJ’s, Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers. This lineup includes a drummer and adds to that infectious unabashed pop that gets the crowd dancing and maybe spilling a drink or two.
Gypsy & the Cat’s first live gig was in London and there is a shimmery European sound that is alluring. Touring in their native Australia, (including Park Life), Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and the US has definitely given them a worldly vibe. It’s easy to see how they garnered the attention of a certain Ms. Kylie Minogue, playing the support for her 2010 Aphrodite tour.
4 years ago, the duo took on the challenge of a transition to head up their own label ‘Alsatian Music’ and they independently released their 2nd album, following up from ‘Gilgamesh’, ‘ The Late Blue’ which was produced by the band themselves and mixed by Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Flaming Lips, Tame Impala) and you can really hear Dave’s influence in the tracks. Since then we are lucky enough to have this latest release ‘Inside your Mind’ and this gig was a fantastic showcase of the new material.
The crowd was very receptive as feel good summer psych pop jams pumped through the room. Of course, a smattering of tracks from Gilgamesh and The Late Blue washed over the dance floor. Very MGMT/ Client Liaison/ Tears for Fears…they take their audience on a great journey and are fantastic musical architects. Of course, fans were aching for the tracks circa 2010 JJJ’s hottest 100 – and were electrified as the band wound up the gig with ‘Jona Vark’.
Gypsy & The Cat and finished on a high with ‘Time to Wander’. The crowd sings along, ‘Time to wander…now I’m gone never here…when you look nothing near…will you wonder…now I’m gone never here when you look nothing near…and I wonder…I wonder’. Pure perfection.
