- By Amelia Bidgood
Women of Notes and Rhythm drew in a crowd of happy, carefree eccentric people that filled the Transit Bar to about a quarter of the venue’s capacity. I, and my amazing boyfriend, who was absolutely thrilled he had to accompany me to this event, were among the audience. The crowd varied from all different ages, couples, singles and large groups of friends.
Women of Notes and Rhythm isn’t like anything I’ve ever come across in the music performance scene. With a slight retro feel, this show proved to be completely original, with performances from four female artists and their bands including; Paryce, Ruth O’Brien, Heidi Gill and the Aqua Lungs, and Freyja’s Rain. Each group played a selection of their individual, intriguing songs to a content crowd.
Paryce portrayed catchy indie/rock style music and was full of life with a strong voice that matched her guitar skills, as she belted out some tunes. The set-changes seemed to drag out a little, which made the night feel slightly disjointed, however up next was Ruth O’Brien, with her catchy songs infused with a jazz and blues twist. Ruth gave some popular music her own spin as well as slipping in a few of her originals.
When Heidi Gill and the Aqua Lungs began their musical performance, my initial thought was ‘this is going to be a reggae style set’, however after her first song, the style of music soon transformed into indie/pop, as her songs followed with their conversational, descriptive lyrics. Their music was enjoyable, but the night was starting to feel a little like an upper-class karaoke party.
The best was saved till last, as Freyja’s Rain took the stage with their indie/rock music. The lead singer’s voice was soulful and captivating, and was a performance worth waiting for. A number of local DJs took to the stage after the last band finished up. It was great opportunity for these ladies to show us what they’ve got, but after listening to a few mixes I was ready for home.
From jazz to indie/rock, each artist brought to the stage something of their own and stamped their print of uniqueness. All in all, the Women of Notes achieved what it set out to do – to deliver a diverse range of Canberra’s local, talented women in the arts and music industry.
