Harlequin League @ GeddesLane, Melbourne (06/12/2008)

Fri 19th Dec, 2008 in Gig Reviews

It is no fine line addressing the difference between a great gig and a great performance. It’s a big, fat meaty line. A slab, if you will. A great performance offers the best from those on stage – it’s up to the band/musician/performer to deliver themselves well. A great gig ropes in a few more punters; techs for great lighting, sound and set; the venue serving great beers; doormen without attitude, And so on. My feelings are that with this sweaty definition behind us (and leaving the band aside), the biggest participant in making for a great gig is the audience. Can you imagine the vastness of a rocking punk group playing themselves stupid on stage to an empty venue? I hope you can imagine it, because it was precisely what I witnessed at Melbourne’s Harlequin League gig.

For perspective: the venue was not literally empty. Perth group Harlequin League have instigated a much needed revival to Aussie punk in recent months, getting a lot of warranted support with their EP We Used To Be Gods, Now We’re So Plain. I guess this is why I was so monstrously shocked at the minimalist turnout! Worse still, at the subzero levels of enthusiasm from many of those present. I was then informed that upstairs from the Geddes Lane live music venue houses WOW, a popular dance spot for short skirts and tight singlets. The endless conga lines of pheromones passing through the venue suddenly made a lot of sense, and contributed to a general air of “I’ll watch this band indifferently for a few moments while I catch my breath and head back into the pit upstairs.” It was an unfortunate way to welcome the touring band – although admittedly starting their set just after midnight probably didn’t help rally the mobs.

Ok, so I’ve shared that it wasn’t a great gig. The performance? Better. Much, much better. In fact a steely shoe of sympathy kicked me in the gut several times as I was watching the group punching through their set so bloody well to so few of us. The good news is we were completely enjoying it. After a raging guitar intro from Seb Aston, the group opened with Living the Lie. If you haven’t heard them, the closest comparison I could make would be listening to the aftermath when Green Day miss their train; breathless and pretty pissed off. The boys seem to bounce around the stage, spring-boarding off their instruments. It made me wonder why they were so damn angry, until I coined it wasn’t anger so much as a rollicking kind of punk enthusiasm which has been in dire hibernation around post-Living End Melbourne for quite a while.

Harlequin League advances the 90s frat-rock sound with their ability to take that hard-ass sentiment and use it to create a melody with a hook. These guys aren’t senseless scream-o, but certainly charge an electric urgency through their noise rock. At their best while giving us their all with Hole in the Heart, Miles Lisman thrashes his way through the drum kit like a mildly psychotic octopus. Singer James Rogers produces some pretty impressive falsettos at times, which strangely works wonders against a pounding bass. And of course it wouldn’t be a respectable Indie act without a generous lashing of synth – Again and Again was a personal favourite from Ben Pooley behind the keys.

By the end of their set, as much as the band gave they were only getting back so much from the rest of the modest room. It wasn’t surprising that eventually the unhinged energy they opened with eventually harnessed in a little, resulting in the group ditching a decent portion of attitude (plenty more where that came from, no doubt). It comes as some solace to know the boys seem to be in for a wilder summer, with east coast tours lined up for the coming festival season. A fire-engine band, Harlequin League deserve a heartfelt thumbs up in lieu of the frantic audience they so deserved on Saturday. Sorry guys, we’ll do better next time.