Ma Petite Single Release @ Media Club -- 09/28/12

Australian musician Indiana Avent -- who has played violin with people like Bon Iver, Dan Mangan, Gotye, and many more -- has been living in Canada for the last year or so, making her debut album under her own band Ma Petite. With the help of some of Vancouver's finest, the album is almost ready to see the light of day, and to give it a little bit of a tease she took to the Media Club for the launch of the first single.

Opening the night was Garrett Kato, though unfortunately I got there a bit late and only caught his last song. The rootsy rock of Redbird was up next. Lead by Savannah Leigh Wellman's strong voice, she was joined by John Sponarski on guitar & Ben Appenheimer on bass, as usual, and brand new addition: Malcolm Holt from The Gay Nineties on drums.
Opening with "The Tower", the set was a mix of songs from last year's debut EP, We're All Friends and Lovers Until it Falls Apart, and new songs, including an absolute rocker, "I Fall Apart", my favourite of the set.
Redbird continues to get more and more polished in their live show, both musically and stage presence, with some good banter -- especially the joking (and teasing) between Savannah and Sponarski -- and I really can't wait to see how that translated to their next release.

Not long after, Ma Petite took the stage, with Indiana and a few familiar faces, including Olivier Cléments (one of Aidan Knight's Friendly Friends), Ben Appenheimer (once again) on stand up bass and Matt Kelly (of all the bands) on guitar and keys; Jordan Klassen even joined briefly by on guitar.
Indiana's great sense of storytelling shines through in the songs -- and her stage banter -- for some adorable folky tunes, which she admitted, "boys or birds", with one of my favourites being "I Like That You Like Books", a catchy song about having a crush on the customer while working as a barista.
After a few songs, the band took a break while Indiana did a couple on her own, then they were back for a cover of AA Bondy's "Oh The Vampire" and the song of the night, "Man About the Moon", which starts soft and explodes into a joyous ending. Both that and "Goodbye Sweetheart" following had bouts of group vocals, before the set came to an end -- sans fake-encore -- with a song about adjusting from Australian to Canadian climates, "Two Big Thick Ruffled Coats".

It was a lovely set, and the only problem wasn't with Indiana or the band, but rather the volume of the crowd. I don't know why it is, but the Media Club always seems to have the most talkative crowds, and while the front half of the room was rapt by Ma Petite, the back half (near the bar, of course) was getting almost disruptively noisy.