Sweet Machine, The FearlessVampire Killers, Damn Terran @Ding Dong, Melbourne(18/10/08)

Thu 23rd Oct, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Venturing into the city the night of the Caulfield Cup is never a pleasant experience as traditionally, bars and pubs business flourish on such coveted event nights. Sadly, this summery night at Ding Dong was almost as if it were a weeknight in the middle of winter- desolate without an air of excitement.

Damn Terran courageously stepped on stage first. These boys have come a long way in a year. It seems like yesterday when singer/guitarist Lachlan Ewbank left his bass playing position in the Fearless Vampire Killers and started Damn Terran with his brother, Leigh, on drums and long time friend Tim Devenish on bass. These days, Damn Terran’s songs, although simple in structure and form, are capable guitar driven rock songs that change time signatures with ease. They create a larger than life full sound and Ewbank proves to be a very capable vocalist that is sadly underused to this reviewer’s distress. However, the handful of people in the venue all seemed to be there solely for Damn Terran and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Over the past year, The Fearless Vampire Killers have been developing their songs and live show to captivate and enthral audiences with the psychedelic blues rock. Not the most obvious choice as a support for Sweet Machine and knowing this, TFVK chose their rockiest numbers to win over the lacklustre audience numbers. With some huge support shows coming including Swedish rockers The Hives and Aussie psychedelics Tame Impala – make sure you get to the shows early to catch TFVK impressive set.

The most astute overheard comment of the night was “There are more people in the laneway next door smoking a joint, than inside Ding Dong!” A promotional nightmare, Sweet Machine had played the two previous nights at other locations, tiring out whatever fan base they had left after fans forked out for Parklife Festival as they backed up the infamous spectacle that is Peaches. The band members themselves also looked weary but eagerly attempted to pick up the energy of a lack lustre crowd with their punk edged no frills rock.

At the beginning of the set, the audience was told by the black-cloth-clad band members that their usual drummer, Mathias Brenzlig, had to return to Germany after the Parklife shows to attend his father’s funeral. Bassist and Vocalist, Connor reminding the audience, “Still we’ve got very lucky to have met Robert from the Grey Daturas. He learned the whole set within a very short time and saved the entire Sweet Machine Australia tour! Cheers to Robert!” Nodding at the muscular man behind him perched at the drum kit. The drummer did a phenomenal job of blending into the background and letting Saskia and Connor take the spotlight, whilst maintaining the band rhythmically.
Guitarist and co-vocalist, Saskia, is a fantastic spectacle to watch as she stuns the audience with her competent guitar skills and sexy persona; oozing vivacity and sex appeal during her performances on songs like Fish and Run. Bassist and co-vocalist, Connor, is the German equivalent of Flamingo Crash’s Isaac Emmanuel: sweaty with enthusiasm and facially expressive in performance. A brilliant light show behind the band created energy in the room and was the standout feature of the show.

Sweet Machine’s songs aren’t that different from one another – or any standard rock song; distorted guitar, echoing bass lines and busy drums that run in a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus capacity with hooks and licks and all that pizzazz. There’s nothing about the music that is standout, or a stroke of brilliance. Sweet Machine are very good at what they do, but there’s just nothing new there.