The Jackson Jackson Genie

Band: Jackson Jackson, supported by The Genie
Venue: SoCo Cargo, St Kilda Beach
Date: Thursday 10th January, 2008
Reviewed By: Heather. Photographs by Alex.

It was a hot and balmy night with gorgeous views of the sun setting over Port Phillip Bay when we entered St Kilda's flavour of the month venue, SoCo Cargo.

A red carpet led us into the club, which is a temporary structure created from shipping containers. In February it will be packed up and moved to a new location. For the time being, though, I couldn't think of a more fitting place for it.

Once inside we were treated to ultra-trendy interior decorating. Funky retro lamps and comfy couches combined with traffic signals, gorgeous picture frames and swirling lights and made it seem very little like converted containers. The bar was well stocked with a lot of premixed Southern Comfort - other drinks were available, but a little more hidden away. I was pleasantly surprised to see jugs of iced lemon water sitting on the bar. It was a very welcome change from paying premium prices for tiny bottles of water, and in my view much more responsible. I'd love to see more of it from other venues.

A small door led out into a little courtyard. It would have been a lovely area, except that one whole wall was actually the line of port-a-loos. However, out in this tiny outdoor area I found Harry and Will lounging around before the set started. At the risk of looking like a teenaged groupie, I headed over to introduce myself. It was great to meet the people I've seen so many times on stage.

Eventually, The Genie took to the stage. This little group is made up of three of the members of Jackson Jackson and The Cat Empire, Ollie McGill on keys, Will Hull-Brown on drums and Ryan Monro on bass guitar.

I'm not really a fan of electronica music, so I wasn't sure if I would like the performance. However, by the second song I found my feet were tapping of their own accord. So - how to describe their music? It was everything from electronica to reggae and back. Sort of how I imagine Ministry of Sound stuff would be if the musos were all on acid. Ollie has revived the keytar and brought it into a new era. Like the Rain Man of keys with a touch of schitzophrenia, he dived into the keys and somehow among the frenzied thrashing, the music that came from his his keyboard-surrounded corner was completely different, and unbelievable, and extremely off-centre. With only the three musos onstage, Ryan's bass came to the fore. Usually pushed back behind the rest of the band, doing his thing and remaining relatively unnoticed, he rushed forward with incredible bass riffs and showed his mastery. Will, what can I say, he played. He really, really played. For over an hour. Then he got onstage with Jackson Jackson and got another workout. On a 40-odd degree night, it was astounding. The tempo and rhythm changes were relentless, but he kept on top of it the whole night.

I didn't recognise any of the tunes played by The Genie, other than Dr Who, which was a roaring success. My husband was absolutely positive he heard the Car City jingle in the first song, but I'm rather dubious about that. Suffice to say, The Genie do what they do. And they do it well. No, I'm not an instant fan, but I'm a great admirer of musicians who master their craft. Of which these are definitely three.

So. Onto the main course, The Genie returned to the stage as backing for Jackson Jackson, the brainchild of Harry Angus and Jan Skubiszewski. Harry was his usual self - commanding on stage and creative in his direction of the band. Jan was his usual self too - frantically pressing buttons and masterfully co-ordinating his, um, button-pressy-thingy. I have no idea what it's called, so for the purposes of clarity I'll call it a desk. Anyway, whatever it is, it worked. He pressed the buttons and made magic come out. He even had some pretty impressive button-pressy-thingy (desk) solos.

Unfortunately my favourite Jackson Jackson Five member, Elana Stone, was sick, but the other three girls carried the performance of amazingly well, joined by bass singer Rory Osman.

The night went along, well, almost hitchless. Harry brought out his falsetto, and once he remembered his cue, Ollie was fantastic on his keytar at end of Cats Rats and Pigeons. My standouts for the night were definitely Eliza and Grab a Gun. I was disappointed A Hole in the Garden was skipped in favour of the not-quite-Jackson-Jackson-ish "Lonely Ooh", but I don't get to write the setlist.

There was something slightly lacking in this particular perfomance, though. I wouldn't have noticed had I not attended their gig at the Corner Hotel in 2007, but the night in general was missing a little atmosphere. The electricity in the air was running a few kilowatts below what I had heard before. I don't know what to put my finger on as the cause - the band, the crowd or the venue - but there was a definite difference. It's a negligible niggle in light of the fantastic night that was completely owned by Harry and Jan.

As we bid goodbye to St Kilda beach for the evening and walked down Acland Street the sounds of Jackson Jackson followed. Their hypnotic rhythms and seductive lyrics will still be with us for a while.