Hits, Witch Hats, The Drones @The Hi-Fi, Brisbane (29/04/09)

Mon 4th May, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Check out all the pics from The Hi Fi’s opening night right here on FL.

The launch of the Brisbane station of Melbourne’s much loved live venue The Hi-Fi has been the talk of the town for weeks now. Today, the talk is whether the gig will go ahead, what with the boarded up street façade and builders working round the clock to render the place legal at least for public entry, if not entirely finished.

One might wonder loudly why such a significant launch would be set in stone so early on when builders (and invariably, delays) are involved but there’s something to be said for getting on with it, construction zones or no.

Local rock set Hits are getting on with it when we enter the cavernous room. Jesus, it’s huge! I can’t be sure, but I think I hear singer Evil Dick say “I’m at a dude fest with boobs!” Despite Dick’s too-tight pink shirt and his drummer comrade’s hi-rise cymbal stand and tennis sweat band grabbing my attention, Hits churn through a fairly generic support band rock set which makes me wonder about the quality of fifty or so others who applied for the job of support band via The Hi-Fi’s online competition.

Melbourne’s ingeniously named Witch Hats have more swagger and thankfully less comedy than Hits, not that I think that’s what Hits had meant to deliver. I know it’s lazy to make comparisons to other bands, but at least I’ve got three good ones in mind: Snowman, Nick Cave (Dig Lazarus Dig era) and Brisbane’s very own Sixfthick, who would’ve been much more fitting to christen this place with its first rock n roll set. I wonder if all the noise if due to the ritzy PA being flown at the eleventh hour but no, this cacophony is intentional. Witch Hats’ grimy, overdriven and bass-saturated set provide a fantastic soundtrack to the warm but free piss up on the mezzanine, and I mean that with no disrespect.

Why a new venue need hire green bar staff who don’t know what a Corona is (I was asked that question in all seriousness!) is beyond my understanding, but let’s hope the thirty minute queue times for drinks can only diminish as their experience increases.

And now, to show you how it’s supposed to be done, here are The Drones. Except, I don’t want my favourite staunchly indie band to make me want to sleep. It’s probably my hyperactivity working against The Drones’ seething yet measured delivery of rock rather than anything they’re doing wrong, but I’m bored. I have an acute dislike of musicians shunning their audience by playing with their backs to them, but it regrettably seems justified here. Frontman Gareth Liddiard is openly dismayed at the somewhat apathetic and unfamiliar crowd and displays it with all manner of scathing banter between songs, including a bogus announcement that this is their last show ever – due to personal reasons, of course. Bassist Fiona Kitchin says more with actions than words (nice back!) but The Drones still kick out the jams better than the last time they hit town – and they were pretty damn good then too!

The walls. I simply cannot get past the walls. The grey brush-stroked paint job gives me the heebie jeebies, and transports me to a far flung RSL function room. It’s all about the music though, right?

Tracks from new release Havilah compete with the viciousness of material from their incredibly lauded Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By, but The Miller’s Daughter is conspicuously absent for this reviewer. I Don’t Ever Want To Change is a good consolation prize, as is the obligatory hit Sharkfin Blues, the end of which trumpets a mass exodus of patrons.

Sure, I’m bemoaning the state of the place on its launch date, but what The Hi-Fi represents and what it will no doubt become is so much more important. In a matter of weeks we’ve seen the demise of The Arena’s live roster (RIP) to service our city’s apparently huge penchant for new school RnB, only to have a shiny new replacement (free of view-impinging beams!) step up on the other side of the river. Brisbane now has one of those rare things – a quality live music venue with a guaranteed touring schedule and decent capacity outside of the Valley Entertainment Precinct – and I, for one, am excited. Here’s to the birth of Brisbane’s The Hi-Fi and the many, many shows to come.