There's a precise formula to the Bar Italia mystique.
Take two normcore British lads and a modelesque Italian. Lock them up together during a global pandemic with a bunch of guitar pedals and nothing better to do.
Give them a Dean Blunt co-sign, shroud them in media-fueled mystery and you’re left with a band that’s captured the attention of fans and industry alike.
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Their music is hooky and nostalgia-tinged, harkening back to the golden days of guitar music, yet still inaccessible enough to ward off the clout chasers.
For real though, in all my days as a music writer/listener, I can’t think of another recent shoegazey, indie rocky band that’s managed to gain as much cultural capital as Bar Italia. After an era of lusting after rappers and DJs, does the Bar Italia craze mean guitar music is finally chic again?
All this to say, I was pretty excited to see them when they made their first Melbourne appearance. And I wasn’t the only one. Days before the sold-out headline show, my phone was abuzz with fans trying to scrounge up last-minute tickets. Howler seemed like a fitting choice for the evening – located in the heart of Brunswick, all misaligned angles and industrial charm.
The stage was dark, save for a few white lights providing the bare necessities. The band came on with little drama, simply picking up their instruments and getting down to business, with Nina Cristante muttering a smokey “hi” into the microphone.
In true Bar Italia form, it was the only time the band would address the crowd until the customary “thanks” at the end of the set. Certain folks have felt slighted by the band’s lack of between-song banter but really, who cares? They’re musicians, not comedians. On with the show!
They kicked off as they did the afternoon prior at RISING’s Daytripper with the lurching Calm Down With Me before playing their hit My Little Tony, bringing up the energy at the top of the set. Cristante twirled and writhed back and forth, hitting her moon-like tambourine with flair, although it was clear the band was disjointed throughout the first handful of tracks due to trouble with their foldbacks.
Bar Italia’s three-part vocals and lack of traditional song structure made for a cohesive live set, sauntering from song to song with a moody pace. On stage, Cristante was flanked by bandmates Sam Fenton and Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, each on guitar. Fehmi in particular stole my attention, really getting into it, his snarly voice even more dynamic in person.
The tides changed around a third of the way in. The band hit their stride, with Jelsy, Nurse! and Punkt coming through particularly strongly. They dipped off stage after the banger that is World’s Greatest Emoter– a solid choice for a fake last song – only to come back fairly quickly for a three-song encore wrapping up with their top-played offering Skylinny.
It would have been nice to hear some tracks from their EP The Tw*ts, dropped the week before, but alas… We’ll just have to wait until next time. As we filtered out in a charmed stupor, it really did feel like we’d gotten in on the ground floor. I’m pretty sure the bandrooms are just going to be getting bigger and bigger for Bar Italia.
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