Primal Scream, Wolf and Cub @Billboard, Melbourne(08/02/09)

Wed 11th Feb, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Primal Scream haven’t dragged themselves down to Australia in nine years and to celebrate they were playing two nights at Billboard. Well, that was the plan anyway. Perhaps reflecting the response to their patchy recent albums, the ticket sales didn’t justify two nights and so punters for the Monday and Sunday shows came together and even then still failed to fill the venue. For a band that gave us Screamadelica, Give Up and Vanishing Point it was a woefully lacklustre turnout. But with most of the punters closer to thirty (or forty) than twenty, it’s all too clear that the recent records have struggled to win over new fans.

Wolf and Cub worked their way through a largely uninspiring support set in front of a middling crowd. There was little energy in the room as most punters lurking up back drinking overpriced beers from plastic cups, but leadman Joel Byrne made the fatal error of reviewing their show with a dismissive – œSorry we just really can’t be bothered’. It was a fairly obvious statement as they barely acknowledged the punters let alone tried to entertain them, with bassist Thomas Mayhew more interested in moping in the corner with his amp than facing the crowd. Their new record seems to have been endlessly delayed, and the frustration appears to be spilling into their shows. There a glimmers of greatness, when the drummers grooves slot together and support Byrne’s guitar solos, but unfortunately it feels as though This Mess no longer just their best song, but also their most apt description.

Bobby Gillespie’s a rag doll stitched together with rock star cliché as he shuffles on stage in his suit jacket and grips the mic stand to sing of revolution with the casual air of man who made his point many, many years ago. Mani’s still on hand to plough his basslines and offer incoherent words of praise; even though he’s noticeably the only member denied a mic of his own. But there’s an undeniable feeling that the band is going through the motions, they have, after all, released a string of merely decent rock records after establishing themselves as the chameleons of English rock through the 90s. Now, with Kevin Shields time as an unofficial member of the band is over and with Robert Young currently on the sidelines due to a an excess of rock star indulgence, the band seems to be unsure of themselves, producing records of patchy retro-rock and over-polished pop.

After kicking off with the strobes flashing and a call to Kill All Hippies the show took a while to launch into gear, with the straight-up sing-along rock of old and new – Jailbird and Suicide Sally and Johnny Guitar – struggling to spark the crowd. While their first two records have been culled from the Primal setlist and the band began to warm the crowd with Higher Than the Sun from their classic third album Screamadelica, and the chimes of Beautiful Future.

Exterminator was followed by Suicide Bomb and things suddenly clicked into place. Sick City swung into gear with Andrew Innes and Little Barrie’s Barrie Cadogan, playing ring-in replacement for Robert Young, sharing a mic and playing off each other to roughly lay down the grimy layers of guitar. Innes pulled out the ol’ my-guitar-is-a-gun pose, the motorock brilliance of Shoot Speed, Kill Light and the chemical beats of Swastika Eyes lifted the set list and reaction onward and upward. Appropriately Movin’ on Up follows with Martin Duffy hidden behind his keyboards laying down the gospel samples to back Gillespie’s cracked voice, before the wheelin’ and dealin’ anthem Rocks closes the main set. It may have started out a little slow, but with such a rich back catalogue to draw on it shouldn’t have been any surprise to hear them bring the show home with such a thrilling run of tunes.

After the hooligan anthem of Rocks, the slick pop of Uptown is a minor comedown. But they soon get back on track with the derivative fun of Country Girl before wrapping up the show with the ear-bleed squall of Accelerator – dedicated to Roland S Howard.

With their ear plugs firmly and sensibly in place, the elder punters file out with the ability to hear intact; the rest stagger up the stairs with their ears ringing, shouting their conversations and wondering if they’ll be able to hear anything in the morning. Primal still have something to offer – but with the show bookended by tracks from XTRMNTR, an album approaching its tenth anniversary, and many highlights provided by even older releases it’s clearly time for the band to take a few more risks in the studio.

CHECK OUT THE PIX FROM THE GIG HERE