Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @Metros Fremantle (03/08/10)

Sun 8th Aug, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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Sydney foursome The Art kicked off proceedings at Metropolis Fremantle with a dirty-bluesy opening track, however their set soon turned heavier with I Wanna Know. Russell Brand-esque lead singer Azaria prowled the stage like a feline, and his vocal delivery swung from Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie to NIN’s Trent Reznor. Rock chick bassist Kara Jayne belted out a raspy lead vocal for Trigger, before Azaria returned for Figment of Your Imagination and set closer Goodbye.

Whilst trying to demonstrate their talent for a wide palette of sounds (everything from Korn-style nu rock to heavy pop-rock), The Art’s sound varied too wildly and the heavier moments were lost on the audience.

Not many bands can release a successful and critically-acclaimed debut album, and six albums later still claim that their star is on the rise. However, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club buck that trend with wanton and destructive abandon. Following an interval which featured a 30 minute video of topless 60’s go-go dancers, the house lights went down and Robert Been, Peter Hayes and new recruit Leah Shapiro emerged from the smoke and dim lights and, without so much as a nod to the audience, unleashed heavy versions of album tracks War Machine, Mama Taught Me Better and Red Eyes and Tears.

After Been’s brief “It’s good to be back man”, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club got the crowd jumping and clapping with a string of singles including Beat The Devil’s Tattoo and Love Burns. Guitarist Hayes took lead vocals and unleashed killer slide solos in Ain’t No Easy Way and Aya.

New drummer and heavy hitter Shapiro brought her own flair to older tracks, yet somehow managed to remain expressionless throughout the entire show – no matter what fury she unleashed on the drums. Shapiro breathed new life into Weapon of Choice and Berlin with her thumping kick-drum style.

After stirring renditions of Bad Blood and Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll, Hayes donned the acoustic guitar and harmonica for The Toll and Shuffle Your Feet. The band returned for Conscience Killer and Six Barrell Shotgun, with Been virtually punching his bass to fire out his riffs. The set closed with the overblown swampy glam-stomp of Spread Your Love.

After brief interval marked, as usual, by stomping and handclapping from the crowd, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club returned to the stage. Been’s bass echoed under Hayes’ brooding lyrics for 666 Conducer and Shadow’s Keeper. A wall of distorted noise and pulsing strobes had the crowd thinking that the show was over, until the noise slowly faded and Been and Hayes ended the show with a haunting version of Open Invitation (the bonus track on the Howl album), singing like two angels with cigarette stained voices.

The crowd hoped that Open Invitation’s lofty closing chorus line of “We may never be here again” will not come true. Been looked clearly emotional as he turned and waved to the crowd “You guys are beautiful, take of yourselves, goodbye”. And with that, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club left the stage.

While Stop was a notable omission for the set list, for a band with such a back catalogue of songs which were never released as singles no-one seemed to mind. With ears ringing, the crowd slowly filtered onto the street having witnessed a powerful and rocking show by a band who show no signs of slowing down.

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