Dukes of Windsor @ Capitol21/06/08

Tue 24th Jun, 2008 in Gig Reviews

“Why do people dance like fire? Is it evil? I don’t want it to stop… I’ve got nothing to say.”

On Saturday night Dukes of Windsor, Harlequin League and Voltaire Twins got together for an indie-dance-pop-rock fest. Sporting new hair-dos and a fresh lick of makeup, the Twins were in full force for their last show before disappearing off to record an EP. The Voltaire Twins’ sound improves with every gig, and this week was no different. The Capitol sound system copped a beating from the chunky bass-lines of tracks DIL and London. Voltaire Twins electro-bopped their way through their set with good response from the crowd who, to be fair were only on their first vodka tonic. Prepare yourself for more poptronic as this loveable duo emerge from the studio
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2007 Next Big Thing winners Harlequin League were the final support act before the Dukes. Harlequin League are certainly causing a stir in the reviews lately, unfortunately they seem to be going about things the wrong way. This is a talented band, but their management should be shot for overexposing them. The League have played more gigs in the last 6 weeks than can be counted on both hands and it isn’t doing them any favours. It seems the League are enthusiastic about playing for bands they WANT to support, but play like it’s band practice for the bands they HAVE to support. This equals a nasty mix of lazy gigs, lazier gigs and some borderline okay gigs… be selective lads.

This set started full of energy and harlequin character and it appeared that tonight they were playing their best. The crowd was clearly into the first few songs, but good things soon ended as enthusiasm and well-rounded sound became noise. The mid-set was nothing but filler, and the end was a long time coming, with only a sprinkling of energy here and there. It appeared the crowd were at front of stage to secure their spot for the Dukes and were only tolerating standing there as they were onto their 6th round of drinks.

A FasterLouder reviewer was lucky enough receive an invitation backstage from Oscar Dawson for a glass of red wine, except that a certain Voltaire Twin had polished off the bottle. Escape plan flawed, the reviewer was forced to endure.

The set highlight was where they handed out free copies of their demo CD to the crowd; perhaps the most telling indication of the music’s value. We should still have faith in the League though, once they sort their shit out, be selective with their gigs and play like they did for the first 3 songs of the night and they will continue to go places.

Enter Dukes of Windsor. It was almost one year to the day that the Dukes last played in Perth, last time it was Amps for their debut album tour, this time to release their dancefloor hit It’s a War. The Dukes did not disappoint; opening their set with vein-popping energy. It’s amazing how lead singer Jack Weaving effortlessly belts out lyrics at least two octaves above middle C all the while doing a pseudo-running man dance. Comical.

Thank god TV Rock didn’t make a guest appearance to fuck up The Others which appeared third in set. The crowd went ballistic as the Dukes played their bread and butter. This and their other high-rotation material It’s a War and No Disguise were clear favourites, but their less well known tracks, especially their new stuff caused a stir in the loins of the crowd which inevitably referred down the legs to the dance-floor.

The last song of the night “Refuse” had more of an indie-poptronic feel, giving punters a taste of what’s to come from the Dukes; pure excitement. It’s hard to be sure if the crowd’s reaction was because the round count had reached double figures or just because they were fucking good… Probably both. The Dukes are hot property right now, both on and off the stage; Dawson will appear in Playgirl Magazine in September and bass player Joe Franklin has just scored a modelling contract, and their next album tour will be a guaranteed sell out, and deservedly so.