As most die-hard Devendra Banhart fans know, this man is one eccentric musician with a knack for songwriting that sways and flows with the emotional waves of his moods. The Texan-born, Venezuelan has an on and off stage personality that shifts from uber hippie folkster, to drug addicted rock star (which he loves to discuss openly about in interviews), to Beatnik style poet.

With a fashion sense that appears to have been plucked straight from San Francisco’s Summer of Love, the longhaired bearded Banhart performed with his new band The Grogs at Billboard in Melbourne as part of their Big Day Out Sideshow tour. And this time around, the lead man seems to have it altogether.

Opening the night was local Melbourne electro-folk songstress, Pikelet, also known as Evelyn Morris. I’ve been hearing a lot of hype about miss Pikelet, but had yet to see perform live so I was pretty keen to catch this set. Surrounded by an array of musical toys and contraptions, Pikelet banged away on her various drums, guitars, marionettes, keyboard, and xylophones, creating a truly unique electro sound. With her multiple layers of spaced out vocals and a personal appearance that exuberates quirkiness and charm, Pikelet took the audience on a journey through death and pain, to the simplicity of love and life. It was when my friend standing next to me said. “I feel like I’m on a ride!” that I knew Pikelet was quickly becoming one of my favourite new Melbourne artists.

Devendra and The Grogs walked out on stage to take the audience on the next musical journey for the evening. The set opened up with a mellow feel to it with Devendra focusing on softer, sweeter songs that reflect his younger, youthful folk days. Starting off the evening with songs such as Baby and Angelika off his 2009 studio release What Will We Be, his raspy vocal work sparked remnants of Bob Dylan mixed with Leonard Cohen. A Devendra took the spot light as a true front man, his bandmates shone in their own way and all four members stepped up to display their masterly skill for the instruments.

Part way through the show, Devendra took the center stage on his own as his band members walked off and left him alone under the spotlight. With acoustic guitar in hand, he performed some of his songs in stripped down form, including Little Yellow Spider, which seemed to be a big hit with the crowd. He then took to the piano, and after fiddling around with the keys he shouted out that it was out of tune and the next song was going to be a “bummer,” but he would play it anyway. Although you could hear the few out of tune keys, Devendra flowed through Remember off 2007’s Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon with style and grace.

The band quickly came back on stage to save Devendra from his obvious tuning struggle. Suddenly the rest of the show took a quick turn towards a more rockier, heavy sound, which seemed to be met with mixed emotions from the crowd. For those who enjoy Devendra’s soft side, it was probably a bit much when the whole band burst into ten-minute psychedelic jams that reflect their influences of classic American guitar rock. The Grogs are an insanely talented bunch of musicians as the overhead screens showed close up shots of the drummer’s quick soloing skills while the others rocked out on guitars, bass, vocals, and keys. It seemed diplomatic of Devendra to allow the inclusion of an individual song written by each of The Grogs. None of their voices could equally match Devendra’s in consistency and style, but nonetheless their songs were all fairly catchy and unique. The Grogs obviously have an array of influences and tastes, as each song showed sounds of hard rock, punk, emo, and folk, depending on the individual musician’s mood and taste.

The final song of the evening brought Devendra right back into the spotlight with his only real “hit” track I Feel Like a Child, which had the entire dance floor into hysterics as the band jumped around and Devendra showed off his childlike ways. With a talented group of musicians backing him up, Devendra and The Grogs put on a fantastic show that brought listeners on a journey through time, space, and a multitude of sounds. This is one musician that continuously manages to impress music lovers with his outlandish lyrics, unconcealed eccentricity, and amazingly talented songwriting skills.

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