Surely one of the biggest nights of the year for Perth alternative rock music fans, the triple-treat bill of Gyroscope, Jebediah and Sugar Army promised to be a gig to remember.
Sugar Army gave equal time to showcasing newer material and older tracks from their popular Where Do You Hide Your Toys? EP. The new songs have a darker, moodier sound, bolstered by Brian Molko-esque vocals developed by vocalist Patrick McLaughlin. The contrast between old and new is striking, especially as performances of …And Now You’re Old Enough, I Think That You Should Know, Jigsaw, and Maybe The Boy Who Cried Wolf Was Just Paranoid were thrown down with more vigour and comfortable enthusiasm than the latest efforts. Having opened for Interpol at the same venue back in March with a reputation for killer live performances, it was odd that Sugar Army seemed overwhelmed by the stage. Perhaps fatigued after the lengthy tour; daunted by the prospect of opening a sold out show for two local legends, whatever it was, Sugar Army put on a show slightly under par. Catch them at their next headlining gig to be blown away.
In a truly bizarre irony for all involved, second on the bill were local heroes Jebediah, who truly seemed delighted, even proud to be playing as support. Frontman Kevin Mitchell joked about age during his stage banter, hinting that the band saw themselves as “old coots” making way for the younger bucks. Those young bucks were in the wings throughout the set, singing and dancing just as wildly as any fan in the pit. Jebs turned out a stellar performance that was just as tight, charismatic, and brilliant as ever. Their set of ten songs involved material from all four previous studio albums and one from their highly anticipated fifth. Opener The Seven Signs of Aging amped up the crowd with relentless drum work, thumping bassline and characteristic rollicking, soaring guitar parts. Mitchell’s distinctive vocals were in fine form, and the overall stage presence was decidedly self-assured. Standouts were Animal, Harpoon and Fall Down, although so-called “boring” newer songs were certainly nothing to dismiss. The crowd lapped it up, with all five tiers and the entire available floor space filled to capacity; the band’s ability to stay in the public’s collective consciousness is just incredible. Jebediah’s music, past, present and future, exemplifies mid-1990’s Australian indie/garage band sound, and the veterans show no signs of decline.
After seven weeks of travelling and countless gigs around the country, ending the “Australia” tour with a sold-out hometown show made for extremely high levels of anticipation and adrenaline for both Gyroscope and fans. Jebediah are a hard live act to follow at the best of times, but Gyroscope proved themselves equal to the task. Despite “hitting it big” and adding a slightly dodgy stadium-rock light show to their opening sequence, Gyroscope played their hearts out while maintaining a truly modest bearing befitting their image as genuinely nice dudes.
Weapon.Enemy.Friend kick-started the 16 song set, which was an even mix of tracks from all three studio albums. It was obvious that the boys were fired up by the way they absolutely tore the stage apart in the usual heedless Gyro style, somewhat miraculously not injuring themselves while making music. It was left to the Metro City security team to provide the bruises for the evening, being undeniably ham-handed when dealing with recalcitrant crowd surfers. Security was possibly not adequately briefed on the event, as one tried to pull Daniel Sanders away from the crowd, another knocked Brad Campbell flying when he leapt offstage to the aid of a fan under siege, and all four guards managed to get so caught up in their dogged persecution of crowd surfers, they managed to miss the rather large and vicious brawl in the middle of the pit.
Fracas aside, the home crowd clearly preferred tracks from 2004’s indefatigable Sound Shattering Sound, as Doctor, Doctor, Driving for the Storm, Take This for Granted and Safe Forever elicited the most uproar and motion. Still, Beware Wolf and Dream Vs. Scream held their own in the frenzy, as did the anthemic strains of the lovingly patriotic Australia and These Days. Closing number Fast Girl and its fat bassline morphed into a hilarious but surprisingly good rendition of Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning, with Sanders doing a credible impression of Peter Garrett. Gyroscope are undoubtedly progressing as songwriters and performers, as the whole set was utterly enthralling, entertaining, and musically brilliant.
The boys left the stage to thunderous applause, and an extra microphone suddenly appeared. Jebediah and Gyroscope sharing a stage? A collaborative Monument was inevitable, and Mitchell was kowtowed back to provide the vocals. Two other glaringly obvious omissions from the set ensured that the fans knew exactly what was left to round off the evening, and …Don’t Look Now, But I Think I’m Sweating Blood and the otherworldly Snakeskin made sure that the night went down in local history as one of the best live gigs Perth has ever experienced.
ashryn
said last month on the 9th