You Am I, The Glass Ceiling,The Shiny Brights @ The Zoo,Brisbane (22/05/09)

Mon 25th May, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Check out the pics from the show right here on FL.

The JD Set finally decended upon Brisbane on Friday night, showcasing some of Australia’s finest up and comers alongside a band of unmatched rock legend and lore. The line down Ann St was a testament to the headliner’s ongoing popularity, as was the bevy of very young girls swooning at their feet once they took to the stage…more on that later. First up there were the – œas voted by you’ support acts: The Shiny Brights and The Glass Ceiling

Haling from Adelaide, The Shiny Brights are a five piece outfit comprised of your standard band config: guitars (lead, rhythm and bass), drums and voice. Bounding out and across the stage, energetically passionate front man Wolfgang lead the charge with powerful, natural vocals that complement the crispness of their high tempo, pop-laden tracks. While the sound mixing and volume filled each song with so much noise it almost drowned the melody, what could be caught of tracks Man in the Manic and Electric Tigerland echoed the clean, tinny riffs easily associated with Franz Ferdinand and the calling vocal style of Bloc Party. Maintaining the energy throughout, attempts to initiate crowd participation fell a little flat with only a few punters joining in; most being happy to just smile back in silence. Amongst it all, a beer swillin’ track reminiscent of the The Devil Came to Georgia, with spoken word lyrics that developed into great chorus of “I don’t remember your name” unfortunately started well but finished in a such mess that Wolfgang even offered a “sorry” as they ploughed on into the next track. Quickly redeeming themselves with another cacophony-to-ballad-and-back-again number that could have been straight from Silent Alarm , overall these guys gave a tight, entertaining performance, even if most of the tracks were derivative and hence utterly forgettable.

Interestingly enough, it’s second band The Glass Ceiling who quote Bloc Party as an influence but really sound nothing like them. Stylistically they possibly have more impact than The Shiny Brights but the nasal vocal stylings of Jack Preston and regular bouts of feedback prompted the use of ear plugs to protect from the din. To roll out some comparisons, think Birds of Tokyo meets Placebo, which should be interesting if not awesome, however between the feedback, again bad mixing where melodies were lost to noise and issues with Preston’s vocals, it was only marginally enjoyable. Notwithstanding this, truly impressive were the performances from the three founding members, guitarists Craig Richmond , James Vandyke and leader by default CJ Morello who himself has a voice that I noticed, enjoyed and preferred well beyond Preston’s – prompting musings as to why these guys would seek out another vocalist when they clearly had their sunburst-haired front man from the outset. It can only be surmised that the live is very different to the recorded, and as such full judgement is reserved until one can be compared with the other.

As the whirly gurge loops that herald the intro to Dilettantes grew louder, the men of You Am I laughingly swaggered onto the stage with knowing grins: Andy Kent, Rusty Hopkins, Tim Rogers and Davey Lane – dishevelled as rock and happy as larrikins. Launching into Kick A Whole in the Sky ’s b-side Midget In A Nightclub we were treated to an unusual set which left Heavy Heart and other well worn classics off the play list and instead concentrated on their last two releases: 2006’s Convicts and 2008’s Dilettantes.

Convicts mid-sectioners Secrets and Thuggery copped a thrashing as Tim shuffled, strutted and gyrated in two-tone wing tipped shoes and a wide brimmed brown hat. Throughout the night, Davey was wrestling with the technology at his feet which seemed to have started with a faulty lead that blew during Giving Up And Getting Fat – after which Tim proudly announced that it’s the tenth anniversary of Davey joining the band. Glasses were charged and water bottles held aloft – from tabular maestro to full-fledged brother by another mother – cheers to that!

Being The Zoo, even though it’s Autumn, all the windows were open and the fans were whirring at speed, it was pretty damn hot under the lights and as the fine gents kicked through By My Own Hand sweat dripped from Tim like rain and Rusty surely lost a couple of kilos in water weight alone. Ever the cool cucumber on stage left, Andy rocked forward and back stable in his nonchalance while Davey bounced and grinned like a hyperactive child playing guitar and keys at the same time while flicking said faulty cables around his feet and pedal deck again. Surprise addition of Dress Me Slowly ’s track Doug Sahm was a departure from the latest two albums and short lived when followed by a rambunctious rendition of Convicts’ Nervous Kid .

Dilettantes tracks comprised the middle of the set, Frightfully Moderne , Beau Geste , The Boy’s Angry At The Water and Erasmus knocked out in quick succession and not nearly doing enough justice to them in the process. Tim’s trademark quips about backstage cocaine segued nicely into Friends Like You while talk about ladies with soul and “feelin’ like kissin’ somebody” had the swooning young things in the front row vying for the now glistening frontman’s attention during Constance George . All were very pleased to sing along to Good Mornin’ , the huge crowd response reinforcing the fact that most were there to relive the past, while newer fans were over joyed to experience the latest albums almost in their entirety.

Finishing the set with It Ain’t Funny That We Don’t Talk Anymore there was no mucking around with lengthy encore breaks either. The gents exited and returned in a timely fashion, powering Berlin Chair between Disappearing and Piano Up The Tree before making a grand and jovial exit of clapping, group hugs and more laughter and smiles of the knowing kind.