Dead Meadow, Slug Guts,Feathers @ The Globe Theatre,Brisbane (15/10/2010)

Sun 17th Oct, 2010 in Gig Reviews

The four piece all-girl, shoegazer outfit, Feathers, kick off the night and leave no questions unanswered. Can they play? Yes. Can they rock? Oh my word yes. The slow trance of reverb slowly builds into their opening number and the small crowd that is beginning to gather in front of the stage seem intrigued. The two guitars wail along to some steady bass lines that complement the simplistic style of heavy drumming. Unfortunately the volume is way to high for any clear vocals or individual brilliance from the Brisbane girls, however a very well executed cover of The Rolling Stones’, Play with Fire, is a standout.

The second Brisbane support band, Slug Guts, is nothing short of captivating. Before a note is even played, the looming front man demands, “Everyone better stand up and move to the front.” Everyone obeys, and for good measure too. These guys intend on knocking everyone back a few paces with their wall of sound and they surely succeed.

All dressed in black and with no lighting effects apart from a single spotlight casting shadows on their blank backdrop, the full onslaught of sound Slug Guts create leaves the crowd bleeding from the ears. The guys in the room all seem to be holding their female counterparts close as not to lose them to the swell of “cool” coming from the stage. The guttural growl of vocals compliment the heavy distortion and reverb the same way a shotgun suits a bank robber, all business and take no prisoners. A guest appearance from someone called “Finny boy” who walks onstage from the crowd in their last number, seems a little overzealous for a support act, but what ensues is a blissful mess of chaotic screams and feedback that further excites the constantly growing crowd.

By the time a supernatural loop of feedback whines through a heavy cloud of smoke signaling the arrival of Dead Meadow, the crowd is well and truly warmed up and ready to extend the reach of the night’s psychedelic delights.

Greeted onstage by a hearty applause, Dead Meadow launch into a set full of old and new tracks capable of pleasing the oldest of fans. Lead man Jason Simon effortlessly speaks through his guitar, which seems to have a way of channeling the souls of each of the audience members. The reverb is high, the wa-wahs are wailing, and the sheer delight that comes from this psychedelic, mainstay three-piece gets the entire room swaying along and following them on their journey through sound.

With the inclusion of their original drummer, Mark Loughlin, the boys from D.C seem extremely excited to be playing tonight which is reciprocated emphatically from the audience that now fill the theatre. Each track is finished with Simon politely and honestly thanking the evidently devoted fans.

As the juggernaut set picks up pace to their more rock-laden numbers everybody begins to move freely for the first time tonight. The enthusiasm from the crowd spurs on bass player, Steve Killie who jumps around on stage prior to most of Simon’s heavy driven guitar solos, tempting the crowd to give a little more, which they do with pleasure.

Not just relying on their instruments to provoke the senses, a long, grey-haired monster appears onstage during the set’s last number. With a single red-lit eye staring into the crowd, the monster wanders slowly around the stage as the band unleash their typically intense sound of reverb-rich guitar solos, screaming over bass riddled drumming. After the monster disappears offstage leaving the audience wondering what they had just witnessed, Dead Meadow finish of their set the same way it started, with a thumping guitar effect feeding back into the speakers as they exit the stage.

The diverse sound that three guys with three instruments can make is a credit to Dead Meadow, and the fact that they replicate this in a live scenario is truly mesmerising. Without changing guitars throughout the entire set and only quickly retuning between songs shows that these guys are not all about the flash and glamour of being a world class act, but instead let their pure talent and musicianship speak for itself.