It’s been a long wait for Perth fans of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Third time lucky, some might say, after the band’s 2002 and 2003 Australian tours failed to make the trip west. Now, more than six years after the release of their self-titled debut, they play two WA shows on consecutive nights. It never rains; it pours.
Just a few hours after Southbound punters had packed up their tents and driven back up to the big smoke, The Silents arrived on stage to support the Californian fuzz-rock maestros. Getting old-timer Nightcrawl out of the way early, the foursome moved into a set even further removed from the indie-pop for which they’ve become known. And the focus on the harder, more gritty material fit the mood of a room full of punters whose tastes are at odds with words like ‘jangly’ and ‘scouse’. Guitarist Jamie Terry ditched his six-string to add psychedelic keys to the new song (imaginatively) referred to as ‘new song’ while Sun a Buzz impressed on its second Perth airing.
But if The Silents made the Southbound comedown a little easier to take, BRMC’s mere presence made all that seem a world away. Arriving on stage through a smoky haze and lit only from behind, Robert Levon Been (bass, vocals), Peter Hayes (guitar, vocals) and Nick Jago (drums) wasted no time taking it to the crowd, tearing through the two most recognisable and intense tracks from new album Baby 81 – Berlin and Weapon of Choice. While Been and Hayes shared lead vocals, the newly-shorn guitarist appeared happy to sit back and allow his bassist and co-vocalist to take the role of frontman. And that he did in style. Thrashing every one of his distinct basslines from his well-worn Gibson, Been spat every lyric into the microphone with vigour and passion, jolting back toward his massive bass rig after every line as though he’d just fired off both barrels of a shotgun.
Despite being a part of the Baby 81 world tour, the show’s emphasis on the new album was limited. Though 2003 album Take Them On, On Your Own was left well alone, with only Stop and Six Barrel Shotgun aired, the trio divided their set equally between Baby 81, their 2001 debut and 2005’s Howl. With Hayes moving onto organ duties for the title track from the latter, the band showed how their ‘departure album’ could translate to a live setting without losing any of its subtleties. From BRMC, there was room for Red Eyes and Tears and As Sure as the Sun as well as Love Burns, during which Been flung his tambourine into the disappointingly small but by no means unenthused crowd.
The crowd did seem a little lost at times, especially when both Hayes ( Devil’s Waiting, Fault Line ) and Been (a cover of Bob Dylan’s The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll ) gave their cohorts the chance for a cigarette to the side of the stage. One unimpressed patron who’d made her way to the second row obnoxiously told her friend how she couldn’t believe she’d paid 58 bucks to get in. The Clink’s down the road, lady; this is the BRMC concert.
But while it may have lost the interest of some, the acoustic bracket was a welcome break for all, coming midway through a mammoth two-hour set. As Rob, Peter and Nick came to a close with American X, every one of those 58 bucks had been well and truly justified. But even after a generous 90 minutes, the smoke and reverb hinted that there was more to come – no more than a minute later, all three members were back with Baby 81 album opener Took Out a Loan. With signs of exhaustion starting to show through the band’s slick all-black image, it was Been who took the gig from ‘good’ to ‘great’, ploughing through the pain barrier as he took every last riff to the front row on closing double Whatever Happened to My Rock n Roll and Spread Your Love. Wrapping up two glorious hours on the latter, Been’s mouth offered the defiant “I ain’t ever comin’ down” – his sweat-drenched hide begged to differ.
