REVIEW: PETE MURRAY AT FALMOUTH PRINCESS PAVILION (13/04/12)
After a short stint in The Netherlands, and just one other UK date, Australian musician Pete Murray came to the Princess Pavilion. Friday 13th in all honesty is possibly not the greatest of nights to contend with, and after Facebook posts highlighting the ‘super good surf spot’ that is Falmouth, it does make you question his Management. But Pete seemed excited, the crowd seemed excited (particularly one girl at the front shouting obscenities), and for everyone involved that’s the ideal combination at the start of any gig.
Once the three support acts had finished, yes, three, Pete waltzed on stage with his band (sadly not literally) to an array of whoops and cheers and even a few screams, well he is pretty dreamy. Song number one was Blue Sky Blue, the title track off Pete’s fourth album released last year. Immediately mesmerising: captivating vocals and very catchy melodies, they quiet the crowd like a whisper, a room listening closely.
He moved on to a few tracks from his first and third album, the sad sounding yet optimistic ‘Silver Cloud’ and brilliantly funk inspired ‘Fall Your Way’, to mention two, before playing a nice collective from the new album. Blue Sky Blue was born out of the break up of Pete’s marriage, and yet many of the songs seem surprisingly upbeat for songs about a broken heart, particularly ‘Broken’, which really makes you want to dance.
‘Opportunity’, as expected, went down like cupcakes at a birthday party. The Falmouth crowd in it’s entirety, young people, old people, couples, hard-core fans and Pete Murray newbies, were absolutely lapping it up. Followed with classics like ‘Better Days’, ‘Feeler’, and ‘Class A’, even the unfamiliar ears wanted to sing along.
Pete took full advantage of the possibility to really interact with a crowd in a smaller venue. As far as levels of comfort go, it seemed like he might as well have been in his front room playing to four or five of his close pals. He is an incredibly endearing hunk of a man, a little bit Jack Johnson meets John Mayer meets KT Tunstall: Very guitar driven, very chilled, funk dotted around all over the place and vocal tones like velvet, so smooth.
After a set that seemed to have been completely at the beck and call of the audience, he reappeared on his own for a beautiful stripped back performance of ‘Saving Grace’. ‘Holland’ from his latest album and ‘Please’ from his first came after, before the final hoorah in the people’s favourite ‘So Beautiful’.
Although we didn’t get to see him play in his pants, which he had promised in return for a sold out night, Pete Murray was engaging, soulful and very easy to listen to. His tender voice, infectious melodies and laid back Aussie attitude are incredibly hard not to enjoy, even when you’ve been stood up.
Words and photo: Hannah Giles
