The Breeders sold out in 2003 after the release of Title TK and as the years ticked over, their audiences got bigger, and on July 30 on a miserable Perth night, Club Capitol was packed to the red-velvet covered rafters with fans old and young. This tour follows the release of 2008’s Mountain Battles and the anticipation in the air that preceded the headliners’ entrance was palpable.
Just before the main event, Perth’s own psychedelic-garage outfit The Silents played a strong set. The radio-friendly Little Girl Lost got the most enthusiastic response, maybe second to the one after they mentioned the Breeders and thanked them for having them as a support act.
Kim Deal and sister Kelley could have passed for suburban soccer mums as they made their entrance in daggy T-shirts and jumpers, jeans and sneakers. But despite appearing apathetic they were all smiles and energy; their voices sounding as sweet and youthful as they always have, even though this band has been at it for 20 years now. The Breeders formed in 1988 when Kim was a member of Pixies.
Kim introduced herself to the Perthites by letting them know they were special enough for her to leave her date on the couch in Ohio while she played for them on the other side of the world. The Breeders then let rip the thumping Bang On while the audience clapped and stomped along.
The Deals played their guitars with lightening speed; their fingers blurred like the wings of hummingbirds through the faster tracks to the point that it was hard to know whether to stare at them or dance.
However, it wasn’t long into the set that the audience began to forget about the show and direct their anger at the sound technicians for letting the bass drown out the more diminutive vocals. The abuse continued into the pink-bathed Night of Joy during which Kim was captivating, but some audience members became irate enough to ruin the show for other people.
The audience had a lot of love for the band though, with more than a few ‘I love you Kims’ and ‘Kim Deal’s a hot bitch’ wafting up to the stage in-between songs.
Kelly took the microphone for It’s the Love as Kim watched from the side of the stage and did her best to distract her sister with close-up ‘rock-on’ finger gestures. Kim then switched to acoustic/electric for the favourite off Last Splash, Cannonball. With three guitars and one bass, the sound was formidable and caused one or two goosebumps on the arms of those listening.
‘We’re going to be classy and do a Beatles song’ said Kim as she introduced the truly excellent cover of Happiness is a warm gun, and when Safari finished off the set, the band left abruptly. The encore was no secret however as the often-praised roadie Jeremy set up a fresh keyboard just in time for Overglazed and the slower Here no more, dedicated to their mother, which was too slow and serious for the audience not to chat through.
The mood lightened during Drivin’ on 9 which Kelley brought out a little violin for, and Kim jokingly remarked ‘when she plays that (the violin) at home the dog leaves the room’, hardly confidence-inspiring, but Kelley proved the dog didn’t know anything about music after all.
The encore finished with Kelley shaking hands with gushing members of the front and second row, some of whom were reluctant to let her get away. The second encore finished with the excellent German Studies and while the crowd called for a third encore, the Breeders were gone, leaving an audience glowing after a show that came and delivered after five years of waiting.
