The Clouds - The Gov, Adelaide
2nd December 2011
Words: Kristy Delaine
Words: Kristy Delaine

After a 14-year break, The Clouds rolled in to Adelaide as part of their nation wide reunion tour. The Gov was only at half capacity late on a lazy Sunday evening but there was certainly a lot of love in the room for the Sydney based four piece. The crowd, consisting mainly of 30 somethings, were excited to relive their teenage years and enjoy a trip down memory lane with an indy rock soundtrack lead by Jodi Phillis, (vocals and guitar) and Trish Young (vocals and bass).
The band arrived on stage wearing their own tour merch t-shirts and were enthusiastically welcomed by the punters with many asking why it’s been so long between drinks. Opening with Fear The Moon closely followed by Soul Eater, they were quickly in full swing, sounding as though they’d never left the scene.
They powered through songs spanning their impressive back catalogue of 4 albums and 5 EPs. The crowd especially enjoying Say It, Aquamarine and Bubble Baby. Raphael Whittingham was impressive on the drums, providing a thumping backbone, especially in Bower of Bliss, while David Easton was equally impressive on lead guitar.
The band arrived on stage wearing their own tour merch t-shirts and were enthusiastically welcomed by the punters with many asking why it’s been so long between drinks. Opening with Fear The Moon closely followed by Soul Eater, they were quickly in full swing, sounding as though they’d never left the scene.
They powered through songs spanning their impressive back catalogue of 4 albums and 5 EPs. The crowd especially enjoying Say It, Aquamarine and Bubble Baby. Raphael Whittingham was impressive on the drums, providing a thumping backbone, especially in Bower of Bliss, while David Easton was equally impressive on lead guitar.

It was as though Phillis and Young were in a room full of long lost friends as they casually bantered back and forth with the audience. They were relaxed and clearly enjoying, if not a little surprised by, the attention and adulation. The evening really showcased the vocal harmonies of the two women, bearing a likeness to that of Kym and Kelly Deal, perhaps suggesting The Clouds are Australia’s answer to the Breeders.
After an almost an hour on stage, they rounded out the set with Boy Of Air before returning for a four song encore. After letting the crowd know that they loved the venue and didn’t want to stop playing they begrudgingly finished the evening with crowd favourites Cloud Factory and Hieronymus.
Despite a long absence, The Clouds proved that they still have many fans out there who were more than happy to get a chance to see them perform again. And after having many suggestions for encore songs being hurled at them from the crowd, Phillis commented that they “need to save some of those songs for the next visit” leading us to believe that we wont have to wait another 14 years before we see more Clouds on the horizon.
After an almost an hour on stage, they rounded out the set with Boy Of Air before returning for a four song encore. After letting the crowd know that they loved the venue and didn’t want to stop playing they begrudgingly finished the evening with crowd favourites Cloud Factory and Hieronymus.
Despite a long absence, The Clouds proved that they still have many fans out there who were more than happy to get a chance to see them perform again. And after having many suggestions for encore songs being hurled at them from the crowd, Phillis commented that they “need to save some of those songs for the next visit” leading us to believe that we wont have to wait another 14 years before we see more Clouds on the horizon.