Review Scene: Vintage Trouble – 170 Russell St, April 9th 2017

Just how people respond to a band and its music depends a lot on the reason or reasons why that music is made. Sometimes songwriters have a point to prove, a moral to teach, anger to vent, a style or genre to construct and sometimes it’s all about the energy, vigour and connections to make. Vintage Trouble is, it seems, about engendering a feeling that the band is in a symbiotic relationship with their fans and that all components of that relationship are equally important. It’s so good to know that the band members don’t see themselves as remote from everything and everyone else.

This is Vintage Trouble’s second foray into the Bluesfest fold, and we as Melbourne and Sydney’ites’ benefitted from the band’s long journey from LA to the East coast of Australia by having them play a couple of sideshows.

Ty Taylor (lead vocals), Nalle Colt (guitar, backing vocals), Rick Barrio Dill (bass, backing vocals) and Richard Danielson (drums, percussion, backing vocals) have an increasing array of songs to entertain us with, and there is talk of a fourth album in the works. VT, as they are sometimes known, is still relatively unfamiliar in these parts, with mainstream radio not picking up on their music even though they’ve been in league with the likes of The Who, Ac/Dc and The Rolling Stones. Maybe the fact that R&B bands and solo performers in the traditional sense have had recent chart success will see VT get onto some radio playlists.

The venue was by no means packed, but that didn’t deter the band at all. Taylor would have to be one of the most gymnastically fit lead singers ever, with amazing jumps and elastic moves bringing electrifying energy and passion to the performance. It’s amazing too how Colt, Dill and Danielson can create music that pulses with life that’s almost palpable. In a unifying move, Taylor mused about why we separate ourselves from others when we’re all basically the same. We were encouraged to speak to the person next to us in order to generate a friendly vibe and recognise our similarities.

This gig provided the perfect mix of funky energy and levity, with seriousness and soul. Fast paced songs were interspersed with calm ballads such as ‘Gracefully’, which allowed us all to get our breath back. VT gets to the core of what music is: at once a beautiful expression of what it is to be human, and then a outpouring of energy and emotion in all its forms, both positive and negative. The whole shebang is packed into an effervescent package that should be seen to be believed.