7 May 2022 – The Tivoli Brisbane – words and pictures by Bec Harbour
Going from the minimalist approach for How to Socialise & Make Friends to the much more ambient and complex Running with the Hurricane was always going to be an interesting translation for Camp Cope’s live performance of the material.
Camp Cope have evolved in many facets on Running with the Hurricane, their sound has expanded and so have their outlook. They are still at their basic essence the fiery strong women who kicked against the patriarchy at Falls Festival and ejected an idiot at their last show they played at the Tivoli in Brisbane for saying something dumb and sexist. But they have learnt a gentle approach and expanded their sound and to make that happen they have brought along a touring guitarist to complete their soundscape.
Their opener, Becca Hatch was also an indication of this changing, expanding approach by the band. Becca Hatch was a very different inclusion to what Camp Cope fans might expect with her DJ backed, R&B stylings. The crowd were very receptive to this and the front row that had glued themselves there were interacting and dancing in their spots and very much enjoying the set.
Next up, Camp Cope. The opening chords of ‘How to Socialise & Make Friends’ received a rapturous response from the crowd. Singer/guitarist Georgia Maq spoke about how much she appreciated their fans sticking by them for the last couple of difficult years, announced that Kelly was pregnant, (some lark kept yelling it out during the set), that Thommo hadn’t changed and then introduced the second single from the new album ‘Jealous’.
The set contained a good showing from Running with the Hurricane, ‘Caroline’, the gorgeous ‘Blue’, ‘One Wink at a Time’ and the enigmatic ‘The Screaming Planet’. Toward the end of the set Georgia introduced ‘Anna’, a song that they hadn’t played for ages, one they considered to be one of the most underrated Camp Cope songs, a song about friendships.
‘The Opener’ was ironically one of the last songs of the night, with crowd voicing their appreciation. And because they like to finish off their albums with long sad songs (shows too apparently), Georgia got behind the piano to play ‘Sing Your Heart Out’.
It wouldn’t be an Australian gig without the crowd chanting “one more song!” but the set had run over time, there were no encores. There didn’t need to be, the set was a full and robust showcase of their work and allowed the show to come to a natural conclusion. You walked away from the show feeling satisfied.
