Dixie Ernill finds half Australian, half British indie pop band 'Allo Darlin''s enthusiasm and sense of fun infectious at a gig at the Night and Day in Manchester
It's great to see bands really enjoy themselves when playing live and like the excellent Jens Lekman, the Airborne Toxic Event and the Hidden Cameras, Allo Darlin' are a band that exude an infectious sense of fun from the moment they open proceedings with the joyously upbeat salvo of 'If Loneliness Was Art' and 'Silver Dollars'. Admittedly it is more so the Australian half of the band, singer Elizabeth Morris and bassist Bill Botting, than the reserved English coupling of bearded guitarist Paul Rains and drummer Mikey Collins that regularly breakout in jigs around the stage, but it is hard to see how any person present is not swept up in the waves of enthusiasm radiating from the stage. Mixing songs from their recent self-titled long player with a few songs such as 'Darren' that are destined for their follow-up, a first class set is delivered with the spirit of C86 the heartbeat running through proceedings. Finishing the set with recent singles 'Dreaming' and 'My Heart is a Drummer' takes some topping, but the wonderfully poignant encore of 'Tallulah' performed solo by Morris with her trusty ukulele does just that as she unravels a tale of listening to Go-Betweens tapes while visiting some of her native haunts with old friends. The song taking on new meaning in light of the recent floods that have devastated Queensland and in particular her home town of Rockhampton.