Posted by kluster on January 18, 2011
There is something so delightfully relaxing about finishing up a crappy day spent pounding away on a keyboard and settling down at a table in front of the Spiegeltent with a glass of wine to await the start of a Mountain Man show. Something almost synergetic about the pairing of these later things, the way they ganged up on the former and forced it into submission and then, before too long, the status of better-forgotten memory.
The trio from Vermont (although, they tell us firmly, they are based there no more) have been on high rotation on our stereo since we first caught wind of the band, following the release of their debut album, Made the Harbor, mid last year. Their almost-acapella creations so are pure, so idyllic, so delicate we wondered if they would translate live.
They did. Oh boy, did they ever.
The cutesy (and we do NOT use that word normally, nor lightly, but in the case of this three we can think of none better) trio took to the stage with the kind of enthusiasm that (surely) only youth can deliver. It was an interesting contrast to the overt maturity of the material they presented and the manner in which it was delivered. There was guitar swapping between Molly Erin Sarle and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, as was their solo mixing and attention shifting. Crowd involving, howling and compliment gifting.
Predictably the set list consisted mostly of offerings from their debut, and still only, album. Fine by us, we say. In fact, as far as we’re concerned, the sooner they bring out a second and return to tour with it, the better.
mountain man, sydney festival