!BeardedGypsy

“The Bearded Gypsy Band were pretty bloody quick to command the room…a really impossible-to-top, five-star performance” - Matt Lee (Metro

2013 with The Cat Empire)

Band

~ Biography ~Inspired by the likes of Andrew Bird, Django Reinhardt and folk music from around the planet, The Bearded Gypsy Band play an eclectic mix of tearaway original tunes with Folk, Rock, Jazz, World and Gypsy influences. They exhibit masterful performance and original composition skills as they play with a musical authority and clarity seemingly beyond their years. During 2012/13 The Bearded Gypsy Band were selected as one of 'Rip It Up's 2012 Hot Six' and have performed at the Illawarra Folk Festival, WOMADelaide, Brunswick Music Festival, National Folk Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Harvest Festival, Snowy Mountains of Music, Woodford Folk Festival and toured extensively up and down Australia's east coast while all studying at university. Along the way they have played with a host of fantastic musicians including; The Cat Empire, Hiatus Kaiyote, The Beards, Daniel Champagne, TinPan Orange, Max Savage, Graveyard Train, The Tiger and me and The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats.

“If you have seen them before then you know what a significant talent they are ...If you haven't seen them before then be prepared to weep at

how relatively little you have achieved in your own life" ...from a venue manager publicly speaking of The Bearded Gypsy Band.

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~ ReViews ~

METRO THEATRE 22 September, 2013 (Mat Lee) !

Smartly-dressed and bright-eyed, Adelaide’s The Bearded Gypsy Band were pretty bloody quick to command the room, the four-piece’s amalgamation of bluegrass, folk and roots delivered with a particular Celtic flare. They hardly touched the microphone, allowing their instrument wizardry to lead what can only be described as a perfect support slot, and based on their explosive 45 minutes on stage you’d be hard pressed to find a better Aussie support gig at the moment – a really impossible-to-top, five-star performance.

WOMADelaide 12 March, 2012 (Brain Smith)

!The future is in very good hands too. WOMADelaide organizers bravely selected youthful sensations The Bearded Gypsy Band. They repaid that trust handsomely with an astonishingly vituoso set for an ecstatic crowd. Their prodigious skills produced a finessed performance that musicians with fifty years experience could well envy. Best of all they’re enthusing a new switched-on audience with their next-generation take on Reinhardt and the joys of gypsy jazz.

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~ Full ReViews ~

THE CAT EMPIRE, THE BEARDED GYPSY BAND METRO THEATRE 22 September, 2013 Smartly-dressed and bright-eyed, Adelaide’s The Bearded Gypsy Band were pretty bloody quick to command the room, the four-piece’s amalgamation of bluegrass, folk and roots delivered with a particular Celtic flare. They hardly touched the microphone, allowing their instrument wizardry to lead what can only be described as a perfect support slot, and based on their explosive 45 minutes on stage you’d be hard pressed to find a better Aussie support gig at the moment – a really impossible-to-top, five-star performance.

Lo and behold, The Cat Empire accepted the challenge with an exuberantly appropriate Steal The Light, the title track from their 2013 LP, and the headliners from Melbourne refused to rest, powering through a loud and boisterous two-hour set of pure bliss. Snap-shotting a career of what seems like a 100 genre-shifts and double the amount of instruments, they showcased the complexity and variety that has captured fans on a worldwide scale. The colossal eight-piece of multi-instrumentalists, flamenco dance-team the Ela Dancers and the unusual, masked ‘Enigma’ culminated in a Latin party that induced involuntary samba and flailing limbs.

The joint-figurehead team of Felix Riebl and Harry James Angus tag-teamed the mic, flipping between smooth narration and vocal gymnastics respectively. Felix’s Sly was divided into fucking fantastic key and drum solos – each musician even impressing their cohorts on stage, before Harry momentarily dabbled in the anthemic Zulu call of Disney’s Circle Of Life midway through a rousing Wild Animals. The aforementioned was not the only new gem – Brighter Than Gold completely blowing the Metro apart with slick jazz, colourful feathers and quickly moving Spanish hips.

Look, to avoid raving about the whole show, it’s important to note that The Cat Empire have been an ever-present, incredible addition to the Australian live music scene since their debut record in the early ’00s, and this gig was no exception. If anything, the new offerings from Steal The Light literally stole the show. Truly incredible.

Written by Mat Lee http://themusic.com.au/reviews/reviews-live/2013/10/03/the-cat-empire-metro-theatre-mat-lee/

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WOMADelaide

Respect and Activism – Music’s Power Unleashed

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Brian

"The future is in very good hands too. WOMADelaide organizers bravely selected youthful sensations The Bearded Gypsy Band. They repaid that trust handsomely with an astonishingly vituoso set for an ecstatic crowd. Their prodigious skills produced a finessed performance that musicians with fifty years experience could well envy. Best of all they’re enthusing a new switched-on audience with their next-generation take on Reinhardt and the joys of gypsy jazz."

!TIMBER & STEEL

Review: Womadelaide, 2012

April 13, 2012 at 16:24 (Festivals, Reviews)

I made it to the festival on Monday just in time to see local act and friends Bearded Gypsy Band take to the stage for their first Womadelaide show. The group of incredibly young and talented musicians are notorious in South Australia for providing an unlikely party atmosphere with their moving arrangements that draw influence from gypsy swing, jazz and folk. It was a warm day and the crowd was packed in like sardines to get close to the Zoo stage and witness the lads finally get their opportunity to spread their craft with a significant new audience. You never get tired of seeing the Bearded Gypsy Band, and it was lovely to see how much it meant to them to be playing the festival.

file:///home/jill/BGB/reviews/Review%20%20Womadelaide,%202012%20%C2%AB%20Timber%20and %20Steel.html

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UNPAVED.COM.AUA date with the Bearded Gypsies Posted on October 10, 2011

The Espy Front Bar, Monday 3 October Reviewed by Madeleine O’Gorman

There is absolutely nothing better than being blown away by a band that, until that night, you had heard virtually nothing about. Indeed, I’m still reeling from Adelaide group Bearded Gypsy Band’s performance at the Espy Front Bar, and have been singing their praises ever since (ironically, as they’re an instrumental act). Don’t let the absence of vocals deter you though. The synergy of co-instrumentalists exudes enough finesse to convince even the most skeptical.The group comprises of a bassist, guitarist, drummer and a violinist, who stands in the place of the lead singer on stage. All four fellas look like they have barely hit puberty, yet ooze musical brilliance way beyond their years. What’s even better is the fact that each musician is remarkable (and highly trained) in his own right. The guitarist (the maestro of the group) fingerpicks his way to glory through Hungarian Holiday, an upbeat country tune, while the Spanish influenced Alaskan Whaler allows the melodic violin to carry the song. The bass player gave a masterly performance which looked effortless, while the drummer experiments with beats beyond the conventional, performing the wonders of jazz, classical and rock all in the one set.Their ability to modernise classical music makes their sound distinctive and fresh in the current music market. Jazzing-up the traditional music genre (literally) definitely makes up for the lack of lyrics and chants to sing along to during the set. I was so enthralled by this performance that I paid no attention to how long the set had gone for. Instead, I alternated between dancing and nudging my partner beside me, repeating the word ‘phenomenal’ (as I was later reminded). The rhythmic display provided a new glimpse into instrumental music and was a visionary and inspiring spectacle, to say the least. You’ll find me front row and centre at their next Melbourne show.

RIP IT UP

LIVE REVIEW: GRAVEYARD TRAIN 16.05.12

Words: Miranda Freeman

Starting off the night was a wholesome set of folk and country rock’n’roll from Adelaide’s own The Baker’s Digest followed by the highly energetic The Bearded Gypsy Band, who have been doing the national circuit in recent months. Group chants, fast-paced violin, stomps and jumps are what comprise a live set from this youthful Quartet and it seemed to rub off on the majority of the crowd – the energy was just like a little slice of WOMADelaide right there in the cosy quarters of The Gov.With their set done and dusted, the gents, now thoroughly sweaty, left the stage only to return later on during Graveyard Train to take front centre and lead the crowd mosh pit.

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