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Elizabeth Rose Stopped By The Fat Controller Over The Weekend

By Gavin de Almeida

Posted on June 20, 2016

Despite the Saturday night crowd being a bit disengaged, Elizabeth Rose is a strong character and put on a quality show at Fat Controller over the weekend.

A very slow building crowd at Fat Controller were finally treated to a late set by Elizabeth Rose on Saturday night. A solid performance to a slightly disengaged crowd won’t necessarily be memorable for either performer or crowd, but Rose will grow from this show and hopefully come back with a vengeance on her next tour.

Opening act Annie Bass played to a modest crowd. Solid and professional due to Annabel Weston’s clean vocals and Matt Morison’s slick production, these ex-Adelaidians have all the tools for success. They just need to get on the same wavelength as their electronic-pop industry peers, develop a veneer of “effortlessness” and significantly find a couple of earworms to cut through their saturated scene.

Melbourne rapper Baro played to a spread out dispersed crowd. Despite this, he and his DJ demonstrated enough flair and pizzazz to suggest they could have a big future. Baro’s songs have a similar feel to slacker contemporary hip hop, almost reminiscent of Das Racist at times but with a sway of underground American hip hop influences across the board. In the right space and right time in a place with the right vibe these guys would go down really well. If you are a dedicated hip hop aficionado and are looking for a non-ocker Australian act on the rise, it’s worth scoping these guys out.

Elizabeth Rose isn’t necessarily one for in your face crowd hyping or engagement, but she’s a polished performer who melds RnB with electronica pop in a structure. There were a mix of people facing her and facing away for her show but the crowd still danced to her show, partly due to Fat Controller regulars and engaged fans. The sound was reasonably strong but it felt like the crowd were more reacting to the beats, than drawn to any big hooks. Still, the singles Shoulda Coulda Woulda and Playing with Fire shone through and it’s a bit strange that the latter isn’t as big as it could be.

Rose cuts a clean cut figure compared to contemporaries like Alison Wonderland who seem to focus more on production than vocals. Perhaps this lack of a darker edge doesn’t translate as well to a cynical, discerning clubbing fan base used to either searing choruses or hard hitting beats and breakdowns. You’d think Elizabeth Rose was in the right place at the right time in an era where electropop and female vocalists are really shining through. Maybe she simply needs to understand what makes her peers as big as they are: lingering interval construction in melodies, unique beats and simply put, an edge.

Like the lead character in Apocalypto, Rose is the “almost” in her universe. But things can change quickly in this industry and she is quickly developing increasingly stronger hooks and a groundbreaking hit isn’t that far off in the horizon.