78 Saab, The Maladies, BorderThieves @ The Gaelic Club,Sydney (02/04/11)

Thu 7th Apr, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Nothing beats a rainy Sydney night like a warm pub and live music and the growing crowd inside the Gaelic Club get their first taste of the latter for the night when local trio, Border Thieves take the stage. The Sydney band have a huge sound with a mixture of electronic samples and loops mixed in with fuzzy, droning guitars and some impressive drumming from Oscar Wutz. When it came to vocals however, bassist Joel Werner’s voice would wash in a sea of reverb over the efforts of the guitar and drums turning songs from tight shoegaze inspired constructions into a mess of sound.

When guitarist Kat Harley took to lead vocals her husky vocals were engaging and left a far stonger impression on the audience, but the real highlight of Border Thieves set came with an instrumental played around a series of sampled loops. This song gave a real sense of how well these three musicians could work together as a unit, and the samples used really helped beef up their sound.

After a short break, two of The Maladies began their set to a larger audience who didn’t seem to notice they had stopped setting up their gear. Ears were soon alerted to the twisted slide playing of guitarist Daniel Babekuhl, that transported those in attendance from a wet city night into a spaghetti western soundscape. Soon joined by the rest of the band, The Maladies march and stomp their way through their set with a great deal of theatricality and plenty of energy. Front man Daniele Marando transforms subjects ranging from evil women to the rising costs of living in Sydney into cowboy pulp fiction as he gesticulates wildly with his guitar and arms, an action returned by one very excited fan on the dance floor who nearly tore down the stage fold backs in excitement.

The backline were in fine form, with the bass, drums and keys all connecting as a tight unit and every member contributing backing vocals. By the end of the set Daniele’s voice seemed to tire, but his energy didn’t and their set ends in the squeals of controlled feedback and the applause of a well won over, and now bustling Gaelic Club.

Touring their new single Warm Jets, 78 Saab come on stage without too much fuss and open with a fairly stiff version of one of their earliest singles, Sunshine. It’s not until they play new album opener Both Sides a few songs later that they really seem to loosen up and create some real energy on stage. Their everyman image and casual conversation about the NRL between tracks provide some laughter from the crowd and seems to really warm both the crowd and the band up and soon there is dancing and jumping amongst the crowd who seem to be loving every track in the set whether it be new songs such as Whatever Rules You Break or older favourites like Beat of Your Drum.

Drummer Nicholai Danko and bassist Garth Tregillgas have a strong connection from years of playing together and with the help of new member Kirsten on keys they fill the room and provide a solid platform for guitarist Jake Andrews who’s licks were crisp at the top of the rooms mix. Ben Nash (singer/guitarist) was an open and honest performer, telling stories between songs, and his voice was in strong form, but it all eyes in the room were on Danko’s drumming. His pounding elevated even 78 Saab’s more timid numbers into anthems and his performance outshone anything he has put on record.

Passive album cuts such as Averoise and Messed Up are given a beefed up sound to their recorded counterparts and receive a rousing reception, but it was Come On that received the biggest cheer of the night and saw the band at their most energetic as they blistered through it with an excited audience helping out with vocals during the chorus.

After a very thankful 78 Saab leave the stage the miserable weather doesn’t do much to dampen the mood of satisfied fans as yells of “Kaan’ the Saab” can still be heard from Central station half an hour later.