Sunday 25th January

Written by Niamh Youmans (Wiggle Room)

The stage is set, mirrors reflect the purple and orange hue of Lazybones Lounge in Marrickville. I find myself front and centre perched in a lounge chair as Coloured Stone takes the stage. Bunna Lawrie is lead vocal, rhythm guitar, didgeridoo, clap sticks & gong stone (bundawuthada). Bunna is supported by Juanita Tippins on vocals, Adam Ventoura on Bass, Shane Tane on drums, Sam McNally on keyboards and Jason Lee Scott, Bunna’s son, on lead guitar and vocals.

The first half of the set is played without Bunna as he sits to my left whilst his son takes the lead. Jason Lee Scott is regarded as one of Australia’s leading Indigenous musicians, excelling as a songwriter, guitarist, drummer, bass and didgeridoo player.

Before the music begins we take a minute of silence for Rob Hirst, of Midnight Oil, who passed away a few days before. As the band reminisce on their time with him and his influence Jason makes a nod to Rob as he speaks into the room that “memories will always live on”. This then shortly kicks into their opening song ‘Memories’. Jason’s smooth, effortless vocals carry around the room and his sharp licks on the guitar demand attention.

Within a few songs it’s easy to tell this is a well-oiled machine. Each band member compliments the other and the music speaks for itself rolling on naturally with ease. The lush backing vocals of Juanita Tippins compliments Jason’s smooth voice. Soft and well suited; bouncing off each other in harmonies. Each song paints a picture of the passion the band holds for the Australian bush, family, and hope. Which are running themes through all of their songs. Jason’s homelands encompass the coastal regions of the Nullarbor Plains (Undiri) through to Western Australia. Jason has a deep connection to his cultural identity, giving his music an unmistakable depth of passion.

The stage adorns four vintage mirrors above the band reflecting the movements of Shane Tane on the drums, which adds for a fascinating view point of the drummer. Often Shane is seen laughing to himself or in response to Jason or Bunna. You can feel that the band is a family from the audience.

Sam McNally on the keys was the highlight of my evening. Each song and synth-y key progression was visibly and audibly pure bliss for Sam. He appeared to be in a dream as the music weaved it’s stories. Jason spoke of dreams speaking that “we all have a dream, it’s just up to us to pursue it”. He often left you with something to think about before kicking into a song.

Jason speaks fondly of his Grandfather who grew up in the bush, following with ‘Bushman’ before Bunna Lawrie joins the stage. He cracks straight into a story from when he was a young boy. A warming anecdote detailing how he was told there was gold at the end of rainbows and how he managed to chase one to the end, but alas did not find gold there. The band burst into ‘Chasing Rainbows’ and with Bunna centre stage the tight knit suit is made even stronger. Bunna looks at home on the mic and enjoys a story. As he tells his tales you can see a smile on the rest of the bands faces.

During ‘Miss You’ Bunna’s voice carries his meaningful lyrics and my personal favourite tune of the night, ‘River of Love’, is sprinkled with reggae influence. They play the 1985 hit ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ which hit number two in the Australian charts and spent twenty six weeks in the Top 50 in the 80s.

The rest of the set was a blur as I and a few others took to the dancefloor fuelled on by Coloured Stones melodic beat. Bunna gives a proud anecdote on the success of ‘Blackboy’, an Indigenous Australian anthem, before jumping into it. Giving a real sense of country pride through his music. Bunna dives into another story before being, without a better term, kicked off the stage as the sound tech’s pull the plug. But you can tell Coloured Stone could have happily played until the sun came up.