Dukes of Windsor @ HiFi Bar(21/5/08)

Mon 26th May, 2008 in Gig Reviews

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You may be wondering what the Dukes of Windsor have been up to for the last 4 months. That was the question on my mind when I arrived at the Hi Fi.

The quintet have been off in Sweden, recording album number two – due out in August – and created the video clip for their latest single Its A War while they were at it. So I was rather excited at the prospect of hearing their new material later on in the night when they performed.

At a little after 9.30, locals Bachelor of Arts, a local band with an At The Drive-In-esque vibe, hit the stage. I was irritated at the fact that the vocals were drowned out a bit by the drums, but the heavy bassline made me happy, and the crowd seemed to be enjoying it, especially the young (drunk?) couple who insisted on dancing wildly in any free space they could find in the venue. And the band seemed to pride themselves in slightly self-indulgent instrumentals.

Next up were Flamingo Crash, whose synth-driven pop made me want to get up and dance like a retard because it was so catchy. Lead singer/bassist Isaac had hair teased to high heaven, which seemed to suit the style of music in some odd way, and his voice was pretty amazing too. Vox were shared on some songs between Isaac and Cate, on synth, and the crowd clearly enjoyed themselves.

The Dukes were running late to start, but no one much minded. Lead singer Jack had swapped his trademark yellow Dukes of Windsor tee for a black tee, and Cory’s drums actually had the new Dukes logo on the front. They started with new songs Refuse and Evil Woman and what surprised me most is that they were all singing at times. It was a nice change. As the crowd danced, Jack got more into it, and after searching for something to hang off/climb onto (options were limited), he sat on the edge of the stage. During Tear This Party Down he appeared to forget some of the lyrics but recovered quickly. The crowd shouted along to The Others and after In The Wild Jack said he was disappointed with the crowd – some of whom hurled drunken abuse (if he heard it, he didnt show it).

During Crystal’s Getting High the reckless dancing couple were at it again and Jack’s prior “disappointment” with the crowd was replaced with the statement “It’s ridiculous you’re all here, but it’s fuckin’ awesome!” which met with cheers and the front-row crazies bashing on the barrier. After three more new songs, Land of Strangers, Runaway and We Defect, they played It’s A War, which sounded kick-ass live and I’m pretty sure the barrier platform almost broke from all the jumping and stomping. A reprise of Refuse was played and the boys left the stage to cheering and whoops and hollers. The inevitable ‘WE WANT MORE!’ chants followed and, soon enough, they were back for one more. Apparently they hadn’t planned for an encore, but decided on Handsome Man, a fast-paced energetic oldie, thanked the crowd and headed offstage again.

(A massive thank you to Dukes’ guitarist Oscar, who wrote out the setlist for me, even though he didnt have to.)