The Middle East, DraggingPianos, Jake Core @ ThePrincess Theatre, Brisbane(08/10/2009)

Mon 12th Oct, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Loudly giggling teenagers, the absence of drinks with alcohol percentage higher than 0.0 and an excruciatingly early starting time are the price we pay for all-ages gigs. Tonight, the latter circumstance means that myself and my other half completely miss support acts Jake Core and Dragging Pianos – sorry dudes! – and by the time we make it to Woolloongabba’s Princess Theatre, everyone’s favourite Townsville sons and daughter The Middle East are already fifteen minutes into their headlining set. Further to our mutual chagrin, it turns out that The Darkest Side (which we managed not to miss at Splendour) has already been played – bugger.

Positioned at the back next to a jolly bearded fellow (more on beards later *scratches extremely stubbly chin) and a barefoot football-jock type with Short Stack hair (talk about the relationship between rugby league and metro fashions), we observe the critically-worshipped septet as they air new, country rock-tinged material and familiar Recordings Of The Middle East numbers. The much-clamoured close harmonies and sparse, natural reverb-assisted instrumentation are as ever on the money, however the venue’s acoustics don’t match those of the Old Museum – the site of the collective’s reportedly most grandiose show of 2009 – and a couple of sound glitches prompt the band members to do the (previously) unthinkable: yield some banter. Either way, there’s something in the air that extinguishes the usual reverential silence – but then again, it’s an all-ages gig on a school night and the irreversibly late-twenties hipster in me is left to scowl at the under-18s with no respect for fellow punters, or for that matter tonight’s hosts.

On a lighter, less heavenly side of things, the impressively bearded multi-instrumentalist Mark Meyers is the primary source of visual entertainment with his apoplectic stage moves while diminutive keyboardist Bree Tranter (who introduces new bass player Jack) continues to give off the off-kilter, Sunday school vibe. Signature crowd-pleaser Blood rounds off the main set in all its trumpet-assisted, Flaming Lip-smacking, Arcade Fire-starting glory. Following fervent applause, The Middle East return in an abbreviated format and roll out a sweet-sounding newie In The Morning. The two-thirds of the trio then retreat behind the curtains, allowing lead singer Jordan Ireland to indulge in a Bob Dylan moment – which he does and then some.

Strapping on a harmonica harness, the choirboy-voiced troubadour proceeds to deliver a ten-minute acoustic sermon that makes me a) want to yell out: “Hallelujah, Reverend! Praise the Lord!” like a fried Southern preacher b) start humming Depeche Mode’s Blasphemous Rumours or XTC’s Dear God – both deeply thoughtful, if anti-religious, songs, and c) yawn after two minutes. To quote a fellow admirer, I knew they were Christian, but had no idea they were this serious. In all, The Middle East ’s previously all-enveloping magic dispels tonight – we’ll just have to wait for the next occasion where the serious listeners won’t have to shush the clueless aural violators and (hopefully) no messiah-posturing will take place.