So how was the east coast tour?
“Well obviously organising yourself and playing 4 or 5 nights a week can be a hardship in itself, but when you consider that we are getting paid to visit places like Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Noosa it does cushion the blow a little,” Josh laughs.
“I guess the highlights on the tour was playing schoolies week on the Gold Coast, headlining the infamous Beach Hotel in Byron Bay and headlining our own shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.”
Along the east coast “Lie in my Bed” has been receiving rave reviews, one Melbourne publication described it as “As much as Bordello are a hip-shakin’, head-boppin’ live spectacle at the best of times, Lie In My Bed aims, and manages to keep those bodies in full swing.”
According to Josh audiences are embracing it just as much. “Well we sell most of our CD’s at gigs based on our high energy live show. I haven’t ever had anyone ask for their money back and I’m yet to see a copy of any of our CD’s in Cash Converters $2 bin so that’s a positive thing I suppose.”
The title track from the EP was added to Nova FM and Coast FM play lists last week and by the time they got to Perth all copies of the EP were sold out.
With 12 shows in regional Western Australia including Nannup, Donnybrook, Albany and Busselton the question had to be asked – why only one show in Perth?
“Well some of our country shows are bigger than our city shows,” Josh says. At the time of this interview they were about to play in Carnarvon, 10 hours drive north of Perth where Josh was expecting around 400 people at the show.
Bordello will begin a tour from Melbourne to Brisbane in February; intent on spreading themselves around, it left only a month to cover the whole state of Western Australia.
On that note – how long has it been since you’ve been in Perth?
“Last time we were here was about 6 or 7 months ago. We love coming home, we still call it home - Mum and Dad are still here you know. We love touring the country towns and we love seeing our friends. We are very excited about doing this show at the Rosemount because we have a heap of new songs and a really original new sound which one reviewer referred to as “explosive disco rock”, couldn’t have put it better myself.” Josh says.
The Launch
Supported by excellent West Australian acts Flesh of the Lotus, Benjwa and DJ Aarom Wilson out in the beer garden, Bordello put on a high energy spectacle to launch “Lie in my Bed” to their Perth fans.
Benjwa was first up and the trio announced a few songs into their set that it was their first gig – ever, which got huge applause from the crowd. Something about these guys is Ben Folds Five meets jazz, meets blues and you want to be holed up in a smoky little club allowing yourself to be mesmerised by the lead singer’s deep and haunting voice and the flawless fusion of easy listening music with an edge.
Flesh of the Lotus were next and considering the mellow sounds of Benjwa that leave you dangerously relaxed considering your there to ultimately see a funk-rock band –they successfully lifted the spirit a little just in time for the main act.
Bordello started with a punch, leading right into the loud, fast party tunes they are so well known for and lead singer Ben jumped down onto the dance floor twice to encourage those wanting to boogie too come out of their shells. It was impossible to sit or stand still, even if you didn’t feel like shaking your booty. The title track “Lie in my Bed” makes you feel like you’ve been transported momentarily into the disco era and it was definitely the crowd pleaser of the night.
Neither the crowd nor Bordello were happy with the short time allocation for their set, a few minutes shy of the strict closing time of 12am they finished up, much to the disappointment of fans who chanted “one more, one more”.
Forty-five minutes gave Bordello just enough time to show off their new sound, play a few oldies for those who remembered them prior to the Melbourne relocation, remind Perth how much they miss us and consequently whet the appetite enough to make you want to buy the EP and tell all your friends.
Some might be sad they moved to the east coast, but seeing the way they have developed their sound and honed their performance skills – we should be nothing short of proud. Damn proud.
