Buble’s own songs made for a pleasant melange, the singer visibly connecting with ‘on-tour blues’ ballad Home, and Haven’t Met You Yet getting almost the entire arena on its feet just two songs in to the show.

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Yet it was as an interpreter that Buble shone, including in a campily fun Elvis tribute section where he surprised by thrashing an acoustic guitar.

Then there was a sublime reading of Charlie Chaplin’s Smile: just the piano, a bucketload of feeling and flawless vocal technique from the star.

It was enough to forgive the odd moment of autopilot elsewhere, not to mention those “global logistical issues”.

We’ll have you back, Buble.

Reviewed by Michael Bailey

MUSIC
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever ★★★★
City Recital Hall, June 10

In 2023, a good 40 or so years after the first wave of jangly indie rock started trickling into the mainstream, there’s nothing all that new about a bunch of blokes with guitars playing tunes.

So what makes Melbourne five-piece Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever so special?

To answer that question, it’s worth breaking the band down to its individual elements, starting with a stellar rhythm section in the form of bassist Joe Russo and drummer Marcel Tussie.

With the former locked into the groove, his head constantly bobbing like a piston, and the latter providing propulsive drumming throughout the entire show, a kinetic energy is created where there are no tempo dips that signal “now’s the time for a wee break”.

This results in the rarest of sights: girls enthusiastically dancing at an indie rock show, and dudes whose default setting is “stand stoically with arms firmly crossed” actually moving their hips in time to the music.

The powerhouse bass/drums combo provides the bedrock for the band’s three singer-songwriter-guitarists - Fran Keaney, Tom Russo and Joe White - to alternate frontman duties, sometimes in the space of one song.

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On their best tracks, like Cars in Space, Mainland, Fountain of Good Fortune and epic closer Clean Slate, you get the sense the trio have played a game of “how can I make this even catchier?” one-upmanship. But that would imply there’s a sense of competitiveness, when what comes across is a group of musicians who only lift each other up.

That sentiment is especially apparent when, during a rousing rendition of break-out song French Press, Keaney, White and the Russo brothers form a circle around drummer Tussie, all the instruments interlocking perfectly, each band member seemingly aware of how their individual role contributes to the greater whole.

And that’s precisely what makes this band special: they’re clearly a group of close friends who intuitively know the sum of the band is greater than the individual parts, allowing them to take a well-worn genre of music and make it sound vital again through not just talent, but the sheer joy of playing together.

Even though indie rock may not currently be in vogue in, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever proves there’s plenty of life left in it yet thanks to impressively tight playing sparked by, presumably, an even tighter friendship.