The Art @ Annandale Hotel,Sydney (10/6/2011)

Mon 13th Jun, 2011 in Gig Reviews

One might be forgiven for thinking the lackluster crowd at the opening of tonight’s bill at the Annandale Hotel was due to the foul weather outside. One may also be forgiven for mistaking tonight’s opening act, Jack Nasty Face, for a Cramps tribute band. These guys demonstrate their experience and pay homage to rock music history, and while they haven’t drawn much of a crowd tonight, the droog attire (sans codpiece) has me entertained long enough to keep the shakes at bay. And now back to the bar.

Stone Parade are up next pulling a great crowd, the room was almost packed full of people keen to hear their sound. The boys – brothers Mark and Kevin Fouche on bass and guitar, Alex Qasabian on guitar, lead singer Greg Byrne and Billy Handley on drums – put on a great show, they traverses many genres and showcases their ability for experimentation with their live set consisting of upbeat catchy tunes and softer more abstract art.

Next up was Creo bringing the energy down with the softer side of rock, the room remained full as the band coherently delivered a solid performance, although my attention was pulled mostly not to the sound but to the way these boys moved on stage. The guitarist appears to have delusions of grandeur, and may be better off starting his own band as a front man.

Suddenly I was standing in a room that, 10 seconds earlier, would have had enough room to swing a cat. The Art had taken the stage and the crowd were packed in like sardines. Before the band jumped on stage to deliver their art an Intro song was played – space organs and marching foot soldiers – set the mood, building suspense among the waiting crowd. Sonic guitars with abrasive and almost metal like rhythm sections filled the room drowning out the harmonious intro song – only for a minute – The lights came on and The Art kicked into their first song Femme UFO. Every girl up the front was instantly (almost freakishly) singing along to every word of the song.

Front man Azaria could be described as the pied piper with a room full of hungry rats hanging on every sound whispered from his mouth. Nourishment came from a bevy of broody tunes off the bands recently launched album Here Comes the War, to which the audience, obviously having purchased said album, recited every word. Bassist and vocalist Kara Jane – rocking stilettos that pierced the hearts of everyone in the room – took centre stage halfway through the set to deliver her song Trigger that would give Brodie Dalle and Alison Mossheart a run for their money. KJ later returned, (handing over her bass duties to band mate Azaria) putting a grunge edge to a cover of Lily Allen’s pop song The Fear before Azaria took back his position as the band’s leader to kicks off into another heavier song A Figment of Your imagination. By this time the whole crowd are jumping, kissing, sweating and bleeding as Azaria carries the show as if he was the love child of Michael Hutchence and Kurt Cobain.

During one of their final songs Moonchild all sound was lost from guitarist Jak Colemans side of the stage at the very moment drummer Yoshi’s cymbals fell down. This young drummer, by the way, is a machine on stage, head banging crazily along to his music while keeping in perfect time –The Art’s techs hit the stage frantically trying to fix Jak’s rig while Azaria calmed the excited crowd by singing an old Follow song The World is a Mirror.

At the end of the song the tech holds up Jaks guitar lead which as been sliced completely into two pieces from Yoshi’s fallen cymbals. Azaria throws his guitar as he lights a cigerette and pours wine down the mouths of girls in the front row – much to their delight. The lead is replaced and the show moves forward with band ending the set with their punk rock Stooges-esque anthem Killing Time. As The Art leave the stage the audience prepare for an encore, they chant, when the band don’t return and the room starts to slowly empty.