It was probably appropriate that the Perth leg of Luke Steele Roadshow was hosted at Deville’s Pad. The newish venue located at the dark and creepy end of Aberdeen Street has been decked out in some of the most hellish and glamorous décor this side of Las Vegas. Entering through a seemingly nondescript doorway and proceeding through the mini-foyer with cackling ghouls and devilish creatures from the depths, you step straight into the dark depths of the Inferno. Wrought iron carvings adorn the flame encrusted walls with ominous cages flanking the stage to contain creatures who have misbehaved in a previous life. Reminiscent of The Sleepy Jackson’s last album’s cover art, Deville’s, it would be imagined, suited Steele perfectly with his penchant for causing mischief wherever he goes.
Support duties tonight were being performed by ex- Gelbison core members Edo and Nadav Kahn who have been busily recording a new album under a fresh moniker of the Kahn Brothers. After splitting with label Virgin after two critically lauded albums, the Kahn boys went on a journey of enlightenment and returned with the inspiration for their soon to be released debut LP Love Melts Fear. Recent single Open has been getting good airtime on Triple J, though one could imagine that friendship was the prevailing reason for the support slot, rather than them being the next big thing.Running through a stack of tracks, all on the barest of bones with just an acoustic guitar and the brothers singing vocal harmonies, it was clear the lads had lost none of their artistic inspiration. They announced that they were going to play a song that they had sung at the newly married Steele’s wedding and on cue Steele appeared onstage, looking like he has just beaten up Johnny Cash and stolen his suit and hair wax. Dressed all in black and with his bouffant looking as comical as ever, he proceeds to sit down on a chair between the brothers and go into a state of deep Buddha-like meditation. When the track finishes Steele takes his chairs and disappears back into the backstage bowels and the Khans finish off their intriguing set. Intriguing in that it’s not often you get to see a band do a stripped down two piece acoustic show before they have even done a tour to promote their new album.
When the red sequinned curtains opened again, Steele strode on stage with a beaming smile and all the confidence of an artist at the top of his creative game. It is refreshing also that Steele hasn’t felt the need to move to the eastern states like so many of our finest west coast artists have been compelled to do. Greeting the many family and friends that are in attendance, Steele got things going with an acoustic guitar, a couple of loop and effects pedals, a sampler and a harmonica. A couple of stomps on the stomp box created the beat that ran through most tracks performed throughout the evening.
After a quick explanation that the evening is going to have a distinctly Chinese and Olympic feel to it, he explained that he has just returned from Shanghai where he was shooting the new clip to his most recent collaboration with Pnau’s Nick Littlemore as Empire of the Sun. After a few Mandarin lessons, things began with a plethora of new tracks that probably sit in the gigantic private back catalogue of unreleased Steele songs. After another couple of new tracks, one dedicated to his wife and the other one with a fiery guitar solo, Steele kicked it back a notch with Miles Away and then rolled on with a cheeky cover of Bob Evans’ Don’t You Think It’s Time. Come To This was the first fan favourite to be aired with the capacity crowd showing their appreciation after which Steele continued with some charming and humorous banter with the audience , informing the large crowd that he is still living in a caravan at his parents’ house and it is only 10 weeks until the first Junior Steele is born.
When Steele belted out God Lead Your Soul the crowd became acutely aware of the prodigious creative talent the man possesses. All were completely engrossed with every new track including the wistful; When I Dream His blues roots are obvious throughout the show and not just because his Willy Nelson lookalike dad is standing nearby. His affinity for the stomp box and particularly the harmonica suit his style perfectly and with the new technological advances of the pedals and sequencer, became the one man band he always seemed destined to. Nearing the end, the crowd was treated to This Day which was blended into Rain Falls For Wind and both are still as relevant as they were when Lovers was released in 2003.
Closing out with an amazing rendition of What A Wonderful World, it seems that the future is going to hold only bigger and better things for the boy from Perth. It appears that Steele’s problems in finding appropriate collaborators for his individualities are beginning to evaporate, perhaps through his burgeoning family life, but whatever it is watch out because a force de Steele is about to once again take the world by storm.
