Art of Fighting, Schvendes @Mojo's Bar, Fremantle(14/10/2007)

Tue 16th Oct, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Fremantle’s liquor licensing laws are a bitch. No matter how many times you make the mistake, you’re always doing well if you manage to get down to a Sunday gig in time for the support band’s ridiculously early timeslot.

Opening for Melbourne’s Art of Fighting at Mojo’s, Schvendes were on the receiving end of such a fate. Even by the end of their time on stage, vocalist and bassist Rachael Dease ’s surly gaze was returned by just a handful of early gig goers. Despite, or perhaps because, of this, the band’s performance seemed to captivate their crowd more than usual, drawing them into their sullen cacophony rather than relying on the audience’s collective misery to shape some sort of connection. The bulk of Schvendes’ set comprised of more recent material, showing why album number two is going to do well when it’s finally released, but Dease and co. saved their best for last, firing off the impressive triple of Turn Out Your Lights, Small Mercies, Sweet Graves and Twice the Man to cap off an impressive set.

By the time Art of Fighting arrived on stage, the small space between the low Mojo’s stage and the bar was just about packed, leading to a rather uncomfortable sweat second only to a full house at the Rosemount. As the Melbourne quartet began their set with Heart Translation from 2004 album Second Storey, frontman Ollie Browne ’s glassy vocals drew wide-eyed responses from the seated punters in front of the stage but as the tempo and intensity built, nothing could shift those front three rows.

Though there was material taken from right across the band’s decade-long career, the focus at this show was all on new record Runaways. With the album’s emphasis on melody and matured song structure above the shimmering arrangements of their early EPs and ARIA Award winning debut album Wires, the performance presented the band as one performing a series of songs rather than one that pulls the audience into their sounds. But from the halfway point of the set, marked by bassist Peggy Frew ’s move to keys and vocals for Ride After Ride, things became more interesting as the band eased from older tracks Give Me Tonight and Wild Beast into Runaways songs Eastbound and Mysteries without losing any intensity.

But as the band closed with the two-pronged telecaster attack of Just Say I’m Right, the sweat poured from Browne’s face while the veins on Frew’s arms started to show just how uncomfortable the heat had become. While none of the band’s members missed a note or beat and gave it their best, the tense finale was a disappointing way for Art of Fighting to bring the curtain down on one of their most successful tours to date.