Hush: An Evening of Quiet Music

Last year, a couple of Perth’s quieter local musicians, sick of gigs where the audience is louder than the artists they’re there to see, decided to create a show where the whole concept called for a quieter crowd. The musicians were Davey Craddock and Stacey Gougoulis and the result was Hush: An Evening of Quiet Music, which was first held last year at the chapel at Guilford Grammar.

This year, they made a few changes. The venue changed to St George’s College – one of the residential colleges at UWA. They added a second stage, so there were alternating sets happening both in the central courtyard and in the chapel just next to it. And they extended the event into a five-hour mini-festival of specially arranged acoustic sets by local WA songwriters. There was a bar, a cake stall, and a wood-fired pizza oven, and a whole lot of punters on picnic blankets being very, very quiet.

At first, there was a noticeable amount of self-consciousness with the concept – among audience and performers alike. In pin-drop silence, it’s easy to hear every plastic bag rustle, every missed note, and a couple of acts used to playing louder music in louder places – such as Rainy Day Women, for example – did not adapt well to the format. But by the time Big Old Bears had taken the stage, everyone had settled in and the event had become a lovely picnic in the summer dusk. By the time it was truly dark, the lead guitarist of Davey Craddock and the Spectacles was lapsing into a messy guitar solo and Craddock was jokingly apologising for being too noisy.

At least, that’s what it was like outside in the courtyard. Inside in the chapel it was hot and claustrophobic, with awkward sideways seating and no fresh air: pretty, and a nice concept, but ultimately uncomfortable. Still, many of the acts made up for that in spades. Todd Picket played beautiful songs on various stringed instruments, while complaining about the ‘noisy bastards’ Apricot Rail playing outside, while the immensely talented and highly distinctive James Teague modestly invited friends onstage and filled the space to the rafters.

It was an amazing experience, listening so closely to musicians you’re used to hearing drowned out at pub gigs. Lyrics became important and it was possible to follow the stories behind all the songs. There were (not unexpectedly) some sound hiccups, and the natural end for the gig probably came about 9pm, when the beautifully harmonious group of pretty girls that make up Simone and Girlfunkle finished, instead of after the legendary but highly conventional and therefore out of place Dom Mariani, at well after 10pm. Overall, however, Hush turned out to be a lovely, chilled out and well-attended evening. Turns out there are people who go to gigs to listen to the musicians, after all.

Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5

Fringe World 2013
www.fringeworld.com.au

25 January – 24 February