Following a solid, yet unrewarded, performance at Melbourne’s Laneway Festival, Wild Beasts’ sideshow at the East Brunswick Hotel was something to look forward to.
Supporting act, Crayon Fields, could not be shunned for their lack of courage and pride, yet their set was a confusing mixture of 70s and 80s pop. Whilst lo-pop is meant to be – œin’ this summer, the awkwardness, and the crowd’s refusal to stand no closer than five meters from the stage set a standard that was not expected to be reached. Crayon Field’s fruitful naïve-pop was only enough for the occasional pitiful foot-tap from every odd visitor, each of which merely clapped to get the show on the roll.
Having performed in the overpowering sun and heat at Melbourne’s Laneway Festival, Wild Beasts were set for another sweat-bound jam in front of a nowhere near sell out crowd. The quartet therefore had to perform only to a select set of followers, and to their merit, they did it almost flawlessly.
Having come on, sweating, barefooted and brimming with confidence, Wild Beasts prepared themselves to perform to a crowd that needed to be proven to. This gig was a night of – œheard of’s’ and – œmeant to be’s’, with most having never having seen them live, nor heard enough to substantiate a solid opinion.
With heat to blame, it took front man, Hayden Thorpe, a lot of effort to coast through the openers. Initially struggling, a bulb lit up, it clicked, his sweat now dripped and dropped in rhythm. We Still Got The Taste On Our Tongues was introduced; the crowd and the band forgave the heat and embraced the sheer beauty of Thorpe’s glass-shattering falsetto voice. Hips shaking and hands now out of pockets, the East Brunswick Club was now subconsciously grooving.
What really gives Wild Beasts a signature sound, is interchanging the voices of Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming. Whilst Thorpe shares a more interesting falsetto, Fleming’s somewhat boring baritone voice does come with a few quirks. Whilst Fleming’s voice is low and long, his live performance of All The Kings Men not only illustrates his vocal range, but also his infatuation with himself (“Girls from Roedean, girls from Shipley, girls from Hounslow, girls from Whitby, you’re a candled queen”). Hitting extremely high notes, his hands now opened, All his inner energy unleashed. It seemed most in the crowd were confused to see that this was not in fact Hayden Thorpe singing, but his co-member.
Fleming dominates the microphone in The Devil’s Crayon, pushing his notes as far as he can, whilst also compensating for a faulty microphone stand. This, it is sure, made Fleming feel the urge to say that the East Brunswick Hotel felt “just like home… apart from the scorching heat.”
After gallons of sweat and many bruised voice boxes, Wild Beasts decided to call it a close with Cheerio Chaps Cheerio Goodbye. A song made for the swayers; the now exhausted crowd are given a warm – œau revoir’ to a band that has stormed both the festival and sideshow scene. Hayden Thorpe’s guitar had taken a beating – a broken string concluded the night as a success.
to listen to their music now on 
