Does It Offend You, Yeah? @Amplifier, Perth 3/08/11

Sun 7th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Perth was lucky to get a bit of Splendor pleasure from British electro punks Does It Offend You, Yeah? for a middle of the week quickie. There are a couple of things you can expect from this DIOYY gig; your lungs filled with the sweet smell of body odor, someone’s cheap beer spilled down the back of your leg and the excessive but necessary visual delights of smoke machine and strobe light madness.

First support of the night was Perth’s dance pop junkies Bastian’s Happy Flight. Only an armful of people were lucky enough to fully experience the brilliance of cheesy lyrics and synthesizers reminiscent of 70’s disco, but that didn’t stop the band from having a good time. Songs about love and not being able to get a drink at the bar make Bastian’s Happy Flight so darling and relatable. A couple of punters really got into their music and strutted their stuff in the empty mosh space but it was disappointing to see such a small turn out in the beginning of the evening.

There’s nothing less than an ultra cool, indie dance set offered by the Purple Sneaker DJ’s. Punters relished the slick beats and their favourite top 100 indie rock tracks of 2010 mashed with beloved 90’s one hit wonders; but it was really enjoyed in waves, people were only hittin’ up the dance floor when they heard a song they knew the lyrics to.

The hot and cold keenness for the DJ set made it clear why the venue changed from the spacious Capitol to the more intimate Amplifier at the last minute, Amplifier only became near full toward the end of the Purple Sneaker DJ set.

Matty Derham (guitar) stretched thoroughly and punters watched the band huddle before they electrified some eardrums. Does It Offend You, Yeah started drilling into the night with Wrestler from their new album Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You followed by older tracks With a Heavy Heart and Battle Royal (You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Into).

Chloe Duveaux (bass) is such a tiny thing, her bright red fringe dangled in front of her face as she rocked back and fourth with enormous rock chick attitude. Energy was running high with the sexy synthesizers effects, choppy guitar riffs and some very rapid arm movements from Rob Bloomfield on drums. Claiming to be pissed early on in the set, lead singer James Rushent charged through each song without affliction while rocking a lumberjack hat.

Rushent yelled out “I wanna see you touch the ceiling!” instantly punters jumped higher and stretched their arms like a feeding frenzy at an aquarium.

DIOYY took it down (ever so slightly) a notch with We Are The Dead, a taster to the darker and more aggressive songs that are on the new album. The faint hearted made their way out of the mosh pit for the blood pumping Let’s Make Out and We Are Rockstars.

Rushent introduced a cover of Nirvana’s Aneurysm as a tribute to someone who died recently, which definitely fooled anyone who was thinking of the late Amy Winehouse. The band didn’t seem to appreciate fans jumping on stage and crowd surfing too much; and with one last filthy electro dance song, the night came to a close with The Monkeys Are Coming. There was no better way to spend that Wednesday night, yeah?