There some statements that are debateable – There is no God.
There are some statements that are not debatable – Eddy Current Suppression Ring are the best live act in the country.
The anticipation in the Gershwin Room was as obvious as the sold-out signs that marked the door. Asking punters to cough up a mere tenner to see the best live act in the country play in a smallish room creates one hell of a demand. Eddy Current’s Primary Colours album launch at the Corner Hotel sold out in a mad rush and this was first chance Melbourne’s punters had to catch the band since that show – and again no one wanted to miss out. The room was absolutely crammed and they weren’t going to be disappointed.
The band took the stage around half eleven, Brendan Suppression stalking the stage, pacing like a caged animal work just waiting to be let loose on the crowd. There’s a call for more beer, for another slab, as he paces. With his trademark golfing gloves on it’s tempting to liken him to an athlete, perhaps a boxer psyching himself up for the burst of controlled power needed to get him through the bout. The tension in the room rises to breaking point, the crowd itching for the band to begin.
Across the front of the stage Brendan, Eddy and Rob sport the primary colours suggested by their new album’s title – Brendan in blue, Eddy in a red basketball uniform and Rob Solid catching the yellow light with his white shirt and golf cap. Brendan turns his back on the punters for the opener Which Way to Go working in tight precision with the rest of the band, totally focused within the moment. Every song feels like the highest point of the show so far, but the band keeps raising the level, feeding off the crowd and their own on stage interactions.
The band’s guitarist, Eddy Current, turned his attention to the keyboard briefly to offer a mid set break from the guitar including the crowd favourite Insufficient Funds. Then Brendan joined the ravenous masses for Precious Rose and was immediately lost in the mad throng of punters in the front rows. He found his way back to stage for Colour Television chanting the ‘switch on, switch off’ lyrics with possessed intensity.
By the time the band attack Get Up Morning the front of stage is a seething riot of fans and as security are busy hauling some of the more aggressive punters away from the front row by the necks, Brendan takes the chance to climb to the top of the speaker stack. It seems impossibly, stupidly high, but like a man possessed he launches himself into the fray. There’s nothing planned or staged in his movement – it’s not listed on the set list as a reminder to inject life into the show. It’s the action of a man totally committed to the show and protected by some sort of manic belief in the power of his band.
They closed with Cool Ice Cream and left. That’s that. No encore. Eddy Current don’t do rock star clichés, they just deliver the tightest, most intense live show you’ll catch anytime soon. The lyrics and music are stripped of everything but their most vital elements. ECSR’s sound is raw, direct, uncompromising and absolutely brilliant.
There are some statements that could come back to bite you in the ass – There is no God.
There are some statements that won’t – Eddy Current Suppression Ring are the best live act in the country.
