Band of Horse, Mike Noga andthe Gentlemen of Fortune @ ThePalace Theatre, Melbourne(27/07/2010)

Thu 29th Jul, 2010 in Gig Reviews

An unseasonably bright and fine July day preceded the icy night that saw Band of Horses take to the Palace Theatre stage; apt ambient conditions for a performance by the world’s most effortlessly autumnal band. Touring on the back of a swirling, gem-filled new album, Infinite Arms , South Carolina’s finest dragged Mike Noga and The Gentlemen of Fortune along for a night of country-tinged retro songcraft.

Kicking off with a brash combination of jangly guitars and prominent keys, The Gentlemen instantly illicit images of 60’s American, with their elephant stomp basslines and swathes of ride cymbal delivering cowboy motown for the white kids.

Equal parts 12 bar blues and 12 string bluegrass, this band of chancers lilt pleasantly between accordion boosted stompers and wailing organ orchestra, occasionally sounding like a restrained Gogol Bordello, more often echoing the musings of Frank Black during his time with alt-country project The Catholics. All quickly drawn comparisons aside, Mike Noga et al should accrue many fans with their mid-century homage mindset and accessibly modern execution.

Stopping well short of what would have been an appropriate and deserved square dance, the peppy crowd nonetheless applaud politely and enthusiastically as the night whirls away from the Mike Noga rumba into the embrace of a decidedly equestrian waltz.

Only the two guitarists take to the stage for delightful Band of Horses opener Ode to LRC initially, lead singer Ben Bridwell citing the rest of the band’s collective resignation for the reduced numbers. Gladly, it’s but 2 bars into the second verse when the rest of the group take up their instruments and a set of swooning, cyclonic sub-pop can begin in earnest.

Silhouetted against an ever shifting back drop of moving photo imagery, BoH traverse lonely desert highways, stunning icy mountains and forests aplenty as they take an avid audience through their back catalogue in gloriously comprehensive style.

Raiding each one of their three albums consistently for live material, the group demonstrate both their willingness and ability to stretch the boundaries of their chosen genre without ever deviating from their sonic journey. Songs as diverse in tone as Detlef Schrempf and Is There a Ghost? thrive in a setlist that is nicely balanced, if a little long; the former a sweetly enthralling view of the bands tender side, the latter announcing BoH as a band capable of performing chaotic and melodic rock numbers as well as any before them.

The massive stage and arena afforded to the band by The Palace’s accommodating dimensions really allow their expansive music to fulfil its potential. Where you might imagine that certain compositions like that of Part One becoming heavy and over bearing in a more intimate setting, here the chiming guitars and resounding cymbals are given flight, the song sounding less like it was written and more as if it were merely dreamed into existence.

Of course, the set is not without its flaws. Particularly in this genre, and with such a long set, maintaining audience involvement is crucial, and while we often find ourselves enthralled by the grandiose imagery paired with stark, arresting melody, as the temperature begins to rise from the growing heat of appreciation, so too does a restlessness following a late string of mid-paced and sparsely composed numbers. The mid-encore pop highlight Our Swords provides welcome respite, but it can’t be ignored that some of its dual bass sharpness may have been blunted by the monochrome run in.

That being said, the band triumph unequivocally in their mission to bring intelligent and loquacious melodies to the masses, leaving aside notions of pretentiousness to deliver an honest and heartfelt set of sweetly spiced reflections. Looking every bit the cowboy troubadour in ragged shirt and smart waistcoat, singer Ben Bridwell uses the pause in The Great Salt Lake to unabashedly deliver the not-so immortal line ‘this thing is killing me’ in reference to his guitar strap, before the band launches into one of the most life affirming choruses in contemporary circulation. They may have tried to push the message just a little too long, but when a band can unashamedly announce the line ‘the world is such a wonderful place’ with such great conviction and the tunes to match, they become extremely hard to ignore.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE