SEVERAL years ago Melbourne pop-rocker Ali Barter and her husband and Holy Holy guitarist Oscar Dawson came narrowly close to moving to Newcastle.
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Dawson, a close friend of Newcastle artist James Drinkwater, is a massive fan of the city and it's creative community.
Unfortunately it didn't happen because they're arguably the coolest, and most attractive couple, in Australian indie and would have been a fantastic edition to the Newcastle music scene.
Last Friday Novocastrians at the Cambridge Hotel were given a snap shot of what could have been when Dawson made a rare appearance in his wife's band on her Hello, I'm Doing My Best album tour.
Dawson is renown for his virtuoso lead guitar theatrics, but here he was the super sub on the bass, playing a right-handed four-stringer upside down.
Earlier in the evening Newcastle indie band Good Thanks opened the show before fellow local Grace Turner took to the stage in her self-described "mermaid dress."
It's been a while since Turner has released new material, but she gave listeners a preview of what's to come, which included the typically brooding Smith Street and Get Your Head Straight.
Both would make fine singles.
We've previously caught Barter in 2017 at the Bar On The Hill's Live On The Lawn mini festival and in November on the small stage at This That.
On both occasions Barter gave polished performances, but you always sensed she was holding something back. Not tonight.
From the opening bar of Backseat, Barter nailed it. Her sweet classically-trained vocal mixing perfectly with the grunge power chords.
While the audience received early renditions of singles from her first album A Suitable Girl, like Cigarette and Please Stay, it was the album cuts from her latest LP Hello, I'm Doing My Best that excelled in the live environment.
History Of Boys and Magoo were a powerful one-two punch of distortion and pop melody.
Barter scaled back the pace for a solo rendition of January. When introducing the track about failed new year resolutions, she explained her short-lived plan to move to Newcastle.
"I always think if I moved to Newcastle where it's sunny and there's a beach I will be fixed, but I'd just eat chocolate biscuits in Newcastle," she said.
There is absolutely no bullshit with Barter. Every time she addressed the crowd it was without any cool rock star bravado.
Rather she spoke about her past problems with booze in a disarming and honest way. "I wrote this because I was being a pussy," she said when introducing I Won't Lie.
Barter then followed with her most honest track, Ur A Piece Of Shit, which ignited the half-filled Cambridge into song, before she ended the main set with her 2016 break-out hit Girlie Bits.
It led to a chorus of loud "Ali, Ali, Ali" chants and she returned alone with her guitar.
"I don't usually do encores because I think they're weird, but you sang so loud," she said.
Barter dusted off I'm Not Real from her 2015 EP AB-EP to finish a thrilling set of pop-rock.
Now can someone please just find Barter and Dawson a house in Newcastle?