Sine Curve
Maths can describe any number of natural phenomena. One of my favourite movies, Hidden Figures, has a break through moment when they discover that the representation of orbital mechanicals which they had been struggling immensely with can be easily approximated by Euler’s Number. Serendipiti’s second stop on her debut headline tour the idealist (realist) tour can also be plotted the cartesian plane of moods with the end graph striking an uncanny resemblance to that classic trigonometric function of sine.
For those math pricks out there who might criticise the exactness of the analogy, Rob – I’m looking at you, the cosine function was considered and dismissed, for the simple reason that the heady happiness of making my way to another Serendipiti concert was tempered by the concert being both later than expected and then additionally delayed.
The concert had the potential to be a perfect Friday night. Doors were originally scheduled to open at 6:00pm (according to the ticket) and even the set times posted on Instagram earlier that day; namely, doors at 7:00pm, Jemzel at 7:15pm and then Serendipiti at 8-ish. This would have been the holy grail of Friday night concerts in the River City, a finish by about 9:00pm, home by 10-ish and relaxing and ready for bed by 10:30.
Alas, it was not to be. Technical issues meant that the start was significantly delayed with Jemzel going on stage about 8-ish. This left those early attendees sitting out in the cold court yard of the Princess Theatre for longer than expected. A tough call since I regularly ignore my mother’s advice to take a jumper with me (you would think I would have learned by now after my business trip to Warrnambool earlier in the week when temperatures failed to exceed 10 degrees for nearly the entire day which I had rawdogged in a t-shirt and jeans).
In any event, things were looking good when entry to the Princess Theatre’s Green Room was allowed. The venue is absolutely gorgeous, with a contemporary mixture of old school gentlemen’s club décor with a range of some of the most comfortable couches I’ve encountered and modern art and lighting. The room was also very well maintained, giving professional venue vibes whilst still being highly functional. It is possibly my new favourite venue for listening to live music in Brisbane.
I hadn’t come across Jemzel prior to this tour, although her music falls easily within my general listening tastes. A Sunny Coast local, Jemzel’s songs seemed to trend towards big feelings which when viewed in hindsight could be premature or mistaken. Her biggest hit, Tell Nobody, one which was released when Jemzel was still in the closet, and was therefore very nervous about releasing and its potential acceptance considering the overt themes of hiding personal secrets is a good example, along with her song about loving her girlfriend and then immediately breaking up once she moved in with them.
Jemzel provided an excellent set which combined the strength of a full band (having a drummer, two guitarists and a bass player to accompany her vocals and own guitar playing) whilst also playing stripped back semi acoustic versions of her songs.
I enjoyed Jemzel’s set and coupled with the comfort of the arm chair, my Friday night mood was reaching a high point.
There are a number of risks to being the headliner for a show. These risks are magnified by artists who are known for their individual performances as opposed to just being the face of a band. Ultimately, it is your show and responsibility rests with you even if decisions are made independently or without your input. It’s your name on the ticket and its your reputation that is affected at the end of the night.
Which brings us to the unwise decisions on the night which, in my opinion, negatively affected the customer experience. Following Jemzel’s set, the crowd was shuffled out fo the venue so that the room could be re-arranged for Serendipiti’s set.
Look, I can understand how the decision was made, however these things have unintended consequences.
First, the crowd obviously didn’t want to experience Anastacia’s Left Outside Alone first hand. It was cold out there.
Secondly, the decision reeks of poor planning. Was it not seriously considered what change over was going to be needed in-between the sets? Every gig I’ve been to prior to this, the stage is set up with the express intention of being easily converted between the sets. It wasn’t the room that needed to be rearranged in this situation, it was the performing area, since when re-entering the rest of the room was exactly the same.
Thirdly, it reshuffled the crowd. What’s the point of getting to a show early, supporting the support acts and securing a prime location within the room to then have to give that position up between sets with close to zero chance of re-securing that same spot a second time?
Look, I get it. I’m being a grouch and these are first world issues. Really, I can understand how these decisions get made, but the collective impression of these is that the production is being run by amateurs. Particularly when the re-arrangement was meant to be 15 minutes but actually took about 30.
The timing is perhaps the most annoying part of the whole thing for me personally. I had come into the night with an expectation that I would get another amazing Serendipiti experience and be home early. Considering this was an all ages event, that assumption should have been sound and a couple of attendees end up leaving early since the changed timings didn’t suit them. Serendipiti didn’t end up coming on until 9:15-ish which pushed the conclusion to about 10:00pm and since the Bruce was fucked (reoccurring theme alert) I didn’t get home until about 11:45pm.
Really, the decisions are perhaps most reflective of a lack of experience and, however unfair, come back to rest with Serendipiti since it is her name on the ticket. I personally think she likely didn’t have input into these decisions as Serendipiti has repeatedly shown that her care for the experience of her crowd is top notch, with extensive efforts put in place to improve the small things, like the provision of a gratitude corner to allow people to write down their feelings, the inclusion of a sensory corner (quickly running out of corners here) to allow over stimulated attendees the chance to recover.
Even the provision of cute crowd participation decisions like the bubble machines, disposable camera and the group task of a friendship bracelet are all hallmarks of someone who cares and obsesses about the minor details to make a concert both accessible and unforgettable.
So, whilst some of the production elements had unintended consequences, they seem more indicative of a lack of experience of a first time headliner and their team. Tours are always going to have issues that pop up and how they are dealt with is something that comes with time and experience. I have no doubt that by the end of this tour run Serendipiti and her team are going to have the process down pat.
The above, is simply the negative gradient range of the sine function that allows for the highs to be reached again. And, what highs they were.
As soon as Serendipiti took the stage and began with Ajar we had chucked out the sine function and replaced it with tan (humanities students, if you want to get the reference, perhaps google sin, cos and tan and look at the graphs).
I think one of my favourite things about Serendipiti is her vocal range in her songs. The majority of the time she spends it within the low to mid points of the alto range, yet the goosebumps come when she reaches the upper then of her vocal range.
It actually annoys me how good Serendipiti is at singing and performing. Because Jess is not just a singer, when she goes on stage she captures the crowd and demands that they feel what she wants. We are lucky that she uses her powers for good to create a sense of whimsy and joy.
Whilst Serendipiti’s original songs are amazing, with songs like Feather, Human, Distance and Kinda Fucked all being masterpieces from my perspective, my absolute favorite performance of her is when she covers the Goo Goo Doll’s Iris. I’ve had the chance to see her perform it three times now and each time literally transports my mind to when the Goo Goo Dolls completed their famous performance of the song during a torrential downpour on 4 July 2004 in Buffalo, New York (if you haven’t seen it, go to YouTube right now and watch it and then book a ticket for a Serendipiti show – you won’t be able to tell the difference).
There were some differences between this show and Serendipiti’s EP launch in June. Whilst the harp was present, it wasn’t played this time and the set list was a little shorter. Still, the concert, with its bubbles and Serendipiti’s effortless ethereal nature captured the crowd and didn’t let them go until she decided it was time.
If you get the chance, go and see one of Serendipiti’s remaining shows. Putting aside the fact that the upcoming shows in Sydney, Wollongong and Brisbane are all free events, if you read this and then buy a ticket to her Byron Bay or the shows where she supports Vancouver Sleep Clinic in Sydney and Brisbane and you legitimately do not enjoy the show, I will personally reimburse you the ticket price.
Now its not a sine curve if it doesn’t end back at zero. So for completeness and before Rob can get upset at me, the high of the show was swiftly brought back down by having to travel back along the Bruce Highway that night. Seriously, which government TMR official allowed the reduction of three lanes into a single lane with a traffic light in the middle of the Bruce Highway on a Friday night. Aside from the traffic controllers, there wasn’t even anyone actually working on the site. What a joke – luckily I was able to sit there and singalong to Kinda Fucked whilst sitting there going nowhere.
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