Even with the fans turned up full and tonight’s uncharacteristically chilly weather, it’s a sweaty, cramped affair inside The Zoo tonight. First up are local favourites Butcher Birds with their infectious and melodic brand of rock n’ roll. In many ways, Butcher Birds are the perfect choice of support band for the acts they precede and tonight’s set is a heavy, noisy affair from a band who are truly going places.
Perth’s Snowman are up next and a substantial crowd gathers and waits in great anticipation. Snowman have gained a reputation for being one of Australia’s very best live acts and from the beginning of their set to the end, it’s not difficult to see why. Their sound, wholly unique and featuring standard rock instrumentation with a few bells and whistles (namely electric violin, saxophone and various percussion instruments), draws comparisons to everyone from Scratch Acid to Jeff Buckley to Dick Dale. Single Swimming With Sharks is the set’s highlight, causing many audience members to break into dance.
In more than one review of last year’s, Gala Mill, The Drones were labeled the most important band in Australia. This has never been more apparent than it was at tonight’s show. Frontman Gareth Liddiard seems to have taken both his stage presence and his skills as a guitarist to a new level while drummer Michael Noga is comparably charismatic, especially when he chats between songs and takes a break from drumming to play harmonica. Jezebel provides a stunning opener to the band’s set and sees brilliant interplay between each member while Liddiard howls, screams and wails into the microphone like a madman. Bassist Fiona Kitschin seems a little shy tonight and Work For Me (which she normally sings solo) is missing from the set. Still, it doesn’t seem to bother anyone too much and her basslines are spot on; energetic and aggressive. Guitarist Dan Luscombe’s slide work gorgeous and the rest of his playing is considerably tasteful.
Shark Fin Blues, fan-favourite from 2005’s Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By is a crowd pleaser, causing plenty of cheering from audience members. Locust, played by Liddiard with harmonica accompaniment from Noga is another early highlight and a highly anticipated track from fans. The band’s set is utterly riveting and soon enough, they’re leaving the stage to thunderous applause. Liddiard and Noga reemerge shortly to play an intimate acoustic rendition of Sixteen Straws, the 9-minute epic closer of 2006’s Gala Mill. If there’s one complaint to be made, it’s that Sixteen Straws is so incredible that everything the band play after it seems anti-climatic. Indeed, closer I Don’t Ever Want to Grow Old is both rousing and catchy as hell, but there’s a steady stream of audience members exiting before the band finishes. Gripes aside, tonight’s set is truly one that the band should be proud of and proof of their status as one of Australia’s greatest and most important rock bands.
