Jo Meares - Faster Than a First Kiss: Jo Meares Band live Sydney 2022 (2023)

Last year saw the release of Jo Meares and Anth Dymke's collaborative album Dream Hotel, which culminated in a very special album launch in Sydney.

"Dream Hotel was always going to be extraordinarily difficult to produce live...

There are all kinds of electronic, percussion, keyboard lines that are not straight ahead and simple to put together as a band. The band I assembled were more than up to the task. In fact, they recreated the songs and presented them with a new grace and feel that was simply gorgeous.

Reuben Alexander on drums/percussion was the key element. He could recreate exactly the feel and complicated rhythmic arrangements and percussion perfectly and bring them to life.

Matt Galvin did more than just play the guitar parts he brought an attack and sensitivity that is up there with the some of the best guitar work I have heard.

Jessie Newling and Jessica gelled beautifully as the backing singers. Jessie Newling’s ability to sing super powerfully in many registers blended beautifully with Jessica’s ethereal, gentle, lush tone.

Anth Dymke’s bass was just brilliant. Groove, precision and feel and his electronic programming was superb.

For me personally it was an extremely nerve-racking but rewarding process. I have never performed simply as a vocalist without playing guitar. The songs are also more nuanced and probably more intimate than a great deal of my previous work. I think this brought an intensity to this show that hopefully we can build on in the The Great Club performance.

The live show seemed to take the songs to another, and quite unexpected, other place. The recording and film work seemed to capture the live feel well that we just had to release them."