Phony Lonely Cacophany

Unfortunately in my absence from Melbourne I’m missing some good gigs. I would’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing Miles Brown (The Night Terrors) launch his solo album yesterday. And if you’re looking for something to do this week I recommend you head down to Saatsuma’s first headline show at Shebeen on Friday. Then the next night return to Shebeen for Jack Stirling and The Perfect.

Brief review: This was fantastic from the first note – literally. Because that note meant they were playing “Goin’ Against Your Mind”, my favourite Built to Spill song and one that I did not get to hear the previous time I saw them live in 2011. It was everything I hoped too, a fantastic opening jam that typifies the band and reels you into their live show. Indeed I got a whole bunch of personal highlights through the first half of the show, like “Center of the Universe”, “Hindsight”, “Time Trap”, and one of their best new songs, “Living Zoo”. Throughout the show the triple guitar interplay of the band really is remarkable, with each of the guitars well balanced in the mix. My first time seeing Built to Spill was marred by one of the most memorable and unbearable dickheads I have ever encountered in an audience, so overbearing he put the band off. He, fortunately, was not present tonight and I’m glad to have now had a very good Built to Spill live experience.

Brief review: Ben Salter made some good discussion with the audience. It’s safe to say he achieved a big dream in supporting Built to Spill, based on his speech about how much Perfect From Now On meant to him. He also joked about what to call his currently nameless backing band : he had considered “The Pre-Christians” but discarded it as too pretentious, and one of the other band members reminded him the original name was “Hot Piss” – but he didn’t think “Ben Salter’s Hot Piss” would’ve gone down too well. As for the set itself? It took me a couple of songs to warm up to it, but from a track introduced as “Dark Forces” I found myself tapping my foot to his reasonably atmospheric, sometimes bluesy rock.

Brief review: I saw Orb, somewhat briefly, last year playing in the Tote’s front bar. They struck me then as possessing an immersive, heavy sound drawn from psych and stoner classics without being a pastiche and it was nice to see them play a full set. They don’t stray from the psychedelic riffs, the solid rhythms, and the echo-laden vocals – because they’ve found their niche. It would be nice, however, if they were a bit less still on stage. But I found this a really enjoyable warmup for Built to Spill.

Brief review: Where to even begin? This was a set like nothing else. There are these extraordinarily heavy moments punctuated by lengthy passages of truly beautiful keyboard or violin-driven music – sometimes mashed together. And then there are the operatic vocals contrasted with the growls in a way entirely divorced from the clichés of genres such as goth metal. The band, led by the manic frontman, were energetic and gradually shed items of clothing. Would I listen to this of my own accord? Perhaps not. But I’m glad my desire to see Laura drew me to this show because I doubt I will witness another band quite like this.

Brief review: Laura had not played live in about three years, so this was billed as a return show – and, ominously, as possibly a final show. It was a shame about the unpleasant, somewhat violent guys up the front (where was security?), but this was a great return. The cello was really prominent in the mix, probably moreso than I’ve heard at previous Laura gigs. The set drew widely across the band’s career. It picked up what may be called, with tongue in cheek, the hits, e.g. “Every Light”. But it also touched on an EP track – “Cardboard Cutout Robot Hero Children”, one of their heaviest numbers – and paid attention to all three of their albums. I really hope this is not the end for Laura, but if it is, this was a good career retrospective.

Brief review: How do you even describe Ruins Alone, aka Tatsuya Yoshida? This was a solo set of drumming virtuosity the likes of which you will rarely see – but one that was no drum solo. He played to backing tracks that were pretty synth-heavy, though there was at least one with a chugging metal guitar riff, and he added vocals from time to time. It was in general a proggy set, but the really frequent variations in time signature felt more like math rock than prog.

Brief review: I hadn’t seen HWCT for over three years, so I was pleased to see them on this lineup – a lineup which, in a conversation I had later, I learnt was also meant to include Bear the Mammoth but one of the trio was at Golden Plains so they couldn’t play. The guitarist of HWCT does not exactly try to engage the audience. He was busy facing his amp for a lot of the set, playing crushing sludgy riffs. If you’re not an enthusiast for post-metal or similar instrumentals, maybe this might have been boring. But if you love this stuff, as I do, this set was really sweet, with the powerful drumming combining with immense riffs to create a great sound. 

Brief review: The whole band seemed in lockstep with each other, with Janet Weiss providing a firm foundation for the riffs and strong vocals of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker. Brownstein in front of me was an energetic presence all night, especially during the fiery run at the end of the main set: “Words and Guitar” was the best song of the night and she gave everything for “Jumpers”, knocking her microphone into the audience. Material from No Cities to Love was strongly represented, with opener “Price Tag” and “A New Wave” proving to be standouts of the night. S-K drew widely from the older records, though personally I thought The Woods was comparatively over-represented and I would’ve liked a bit more from Dig Me Out. But it was mostly great. The only part of the show I found expendable was the encore. To be honest I’d have enjoyed myself no more or less if they had foregone it.

Brief review: Ouch My Face (who joked during the set about changing their name) are a forceful punk band with obvious take-no-prisoners influences from headliners Sleater-Kinney. You could tell how excited they were to support their heroes and they put in an engaging performance. My favourite songs were those that veered towards hardcore with impassioned vocals and blistering instrumentation. Ouch My Face were also fortunate in that although they blew up multiple amps that day, that all happened during soundcheck and everything worked correctly for the actual performance!

Brief review: My only disappointment about this show is that it was the first of a pair, but I was out of Melbourne and missed the second night. Sleepmakeswaves were on the road testing some new material as well as digging up some other material they hadn’t played in a while or ever. By this point in their career, you cannot fault SMW’s live set or their passion for their music. They are always received very warmly in Melbourne and deliver epic performances in response. I was absolutely thrilled that they have finally added the title track of ...And So We Destroyed Everything to the setlist. It was undoubtedly one of the most massive, euphoric moments I’ve heard at an SMW gig; The new songs were also very exciting, with “Kid Song” (now known better as “Traced in Constellations”) standing out the most.

Brief review: I really, really dislike Sleep Parade, especially the frontman’s contrived antics. This performance did not change my mind.

Brief review: Bear the Mammoth, the first opener for Sleepmakeswaves, started proceedings strongly. Their style of post-rock is nothing particularly new, but it was executed well and their passion was undeniable. When you support SMW, it’s easy to be put into the shade, but Bear the Mammoth’s set exuded the same kind of enthusiasm to convey a tapestry of emotions through the ebb and flow of instrumentation. I spoke to a couple of the band members afterwards – by that point they were very drunk and happy, excited to share the stage with SMW and share their music with anybody who cared to hear it.

Brief review: Some metal bands, as they get older, have moshpits that become noticeably less intense (see: Opeth). Not so Deftones. The pit was intense, in fine compliment to the intensity of Deftones’ set. They began with four songs from Around the Fur, including one of the highlights of the night – a massive version of “My Own Summer”. “Diamond Eyes” was another early highlight, and the performance of material from Koi No Yokan has boosted my appreciation for an album that I already thought was good. Later on, a great moment happened when some Kiwi guy got up on stage and bellowed a request for “Headup”, which was duly paid by the band in style. However, best song of the night for my money was “Elite”. That was fucking scorching.

Brief review: You know, Deftones were good, but Letlive may well have upstaged them. Butler’s energy on stage is simply beyond that of pretty much any other frontman I have seen. Unfortunately the mix really did not always give due credit to the skills of the rest of the band, especially the guitar interplay. Nonetheless, this was one of the most arresting spectacles possible for a support slot and I’m sure they won plenty of new fans. It was cool to hear some of their new material ahead of the new album in July, but the highlights for me were “Casino Columbus” and the huge version of “Renegade ‘86” that rounded out their set.

Brief review: I knew nothing about Hyro, but this set seemed like some pretty hard-hitting, dark hip hop. There was only a small crowd gathered at this stage waiting for Deftones, not all of whom wanted to listen to any kind of hip hop, but he did a reasonable job keeping some of them interested and his aesthetic complemented the subsequent two sets rather well. Using him as support was perhaps a brave move, but a good one.

After a short break the show proceeded to its [i]Psychocandy[/i] centrepiece. The middle of the album really stood out as fantastic, especially the scorching combo of “In a Hole” and “Taste of Cindy”. I’ve sometimes considered [i]Psychocandy[/i] to peter out, perhaps because I feel like I’ve had my fill when there’s still about four tracks to go. The opposite was true tonight. The best ended up being last, with “It’s So Hard” extended and Reid thumping his mic stand against the stage. This had become a common theme: he broke at least three stands during the course of the album!