In a week where the ultimate Australian pub rockers AC/DC played sold out stadiums across the country, Melbourne hosted more than a few decent rock bands last Saturday night, continuing the great tradition that has made Melbourne the music capital of the country. And while the crowd at the Corner to see The Kill Devils Hills play one last Melbourne show with their mates may have been the smallest fraction of those who wrecked the pitch at Etihad stadium last weekend, they nevertheless witnessed a great show.

The Kill Devils Hills have toured extensively over the past few months on the back of their critically acclaimed third album Man, You Should Explode. Every time they have hit Melbourne, including a massive New Years eve gig, they have had the new Dave Larkin project Gun Street Girls along for the ride. Having never really liked Dallas Crane, and having already recorded my thoughts about Dave solo, I was surprised when I found myself enjoying the Gun Street Girls’ set. Underneath the often raspy vocals were some great songs, belted out in true pub rock style. Getting the Kill Devil Hills’ fiddle man Alex Archer up for a song midway through the set sparked attention, showed another side to the band, and served to highlight the rock of the second half of what was a short set on the night. Some tragics got their dance on for the last song or two, highlighting the smallish crowd, but no doubt Gun Street Girls would go down a treat at a smaller venue. Nice work.

Having four acts in one night over two stages meant that you could barely get a beer and a smoke in before the James McCann and the Dirty Skirts hit the smaller stage and cranked out his own brand of rock. There were a variety of influences to be heard during the set, and I was reminded at times of Dinosaur Jr, You Am I, and Sonic Youth amongst other 90s luminaries. Aware of the time constraints, James, like Dave, smashed through the set with minimal talk, cramming the maximum amount of songs possible into what was a decent set.

Opening with the intimate Angry Town, The Kill Devil Hills initially provided a respite to the night of rock that had preceded them, but with self proclaimed ‘boot scooting song’ Gunslinger and Siam the mood were soon lifted again. Indeed the boys littered the set with the rock, keeping with the rest of the night. It’s Easy When You Don’t Know How and ‘ song about chickens’ Cockfighter got the feet stomping, despite the latter being a little slower than the album version. This highlighted the fact that the boys themselves seemed a little off, perhaps weary from so many shows, or just from the excessive heat of the day (apparently they didn’t realise Melbourne could ‘actually’ get hot). Regardless The Kills Devil Hills on an off night are still something to behold when they hit their stride, as they more often did with the slower, sprawling songs like 6=5 and the classic Drinking Too Much, which held their own along with the opener as highlights of the night.

As is to drive the point home, the boys ended the night with some of their more reflective songs. Following Drinking Too Much, bassist Ryan Dux and Archer left the stage, leaving the vocal triumvirate for the night (Brendon Humphries and Steven Joines on guitar and Steve Gibson on drums) behind to perform Lucy On All Fours. The band became whole again for the classic Words From Robin To Batman, which is simply one of the best Australian songs ever written. Though were forced to overcome some sound issues at the beginning of the song, which perhaps stopped it from reaching its ultimate height.

When the build up to set closer Cool My Desire was ruined by some idiotic busboy smashing all the empty bottles into his little bin right at the front of the stage, it was indeed coming to the end of the night, and the tour. However Cool My Desire was another highlight of the night, as was the one song encore. Unfortunately the crowd had waned and the end of a long night were upon us. Seeing Archer just minutes after the set out the back of the venue having a well deserved cigarette seemed to sum the night up. Everything had been given on this tour by the looks of it, and at the end of it all there were nothing left to do but relax with a quiet smoke. Cheers lads, see you next time.

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