Puma Archive Uncovered @ TheMetro Theatre, Sydney(05/01/09)

Mon 12th Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

You get one every year: the promotional concert. You spend an overabundance of your hard-earned cash buying something you don’t need solely to get an “exclusive” ticket to a “special” set by an international band you couldn’t get tickets to without paying some preposterous price on eBay. By the end of a night filled with mediocre sets, intense venue overcrowding and unnecessary propaganda, all your left with is the thought that you just spent $150 on a piece of overpriced clothing, when you could have just bought a ticket to a real gig with the money.

That was the thought I went into Puma’s special – œcovers night’ with. Unfortunately, opener Boy + Girl were in no way a reassurance that this would be quickly dispelled. An early contender for worst live band of the year, this electro-pop two-piece brings unimaginative to a whole new level. One pretends to play the keyboard, the other wails horribly over instrumental tracks being fed off a MacBook. Their slaughter of Simian Mobile Disco’s I Believe paired with the sauna-like conditions in the Metro was enough to make this reviewer walk out, if not for the rest of the night holding some promise.

It was a promise that was fulfilled by second support Children Collide, who landed on stage and swept the audience off their feet. With a feedback-riddled hard rock sound and a stage presence incomparable to any Australian rock band since Bon Scott-era AC/DC, the three-piece covered Brian Eno, The Gun Club and The Police among others. Throwing in a couple of their own songs to an astounding reaction from the crowd, Johnny Mackay and company became a rarity: a band that won over fans playing a set style usually reserved for RSLs.

That said, there’s a reason why The Hives feature on so many – œBest Live Acts in the World’ lists. Plainly, given the opportunity, they could probably turn Humpty Dumpty into an infectiously awesome mess of garage rock. Reminding us that “there are actually good songs not written by The Hives!”, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist is something a musical enigma, stuck in a place between Elvis Presley and your local football team mascot.

Pelle’s constant appraisals for applause and refrains through songs that ranged from Australian’s Flash and the Pans to – œ30s Jazz (“Nothing from the 90’s!” he screams) could come off as desperate with any other frontman. Yet Pelle has such a unique charismatic style that it comes off as the peak of any set. All this whilst the band, including the Vulcan-like Nicholaus Arson, play perfectly, holding up the music better than some bands who focus solely on it during their live shows.

Coming back for one last cover as well as a taste of their full show (in the form of Tick Tick Boom ), we were left with the thought that sometimes, despite setbacks, a great gig can come out of a cheesy advertising opportunity.