Jack Ladder, Ghoul, SingingSkies, Udays Tiger @ AlhambraLounge, Brisbane (14/10/11)

Mon 31st Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Tonight marks Jack Ladder’s long awaited return to Brisbane with his newly christened band, The Dreamlanders. With a change of dates and venues due to the sudden closure of the Step Inn, the packed Alhambra Lounge is more than ready for a night of fun with some of Australia’s best alternative bands.

Starting off the night are Udays Tiger, a late addition to the bill, the Melbourne based two piece impress with hard hitting drum attacks over distorted guitar loops. The band’s short sharp bursting songs are overwhelmingly tight and the group are perfectly in sync with each other. They are a band that will no doubt not be opening in the future, but headlining.

A change of pace is presented as The Singing Skies aka Kell Derig-Hall takes to the stage. Armed only with an electric guitar and reverb driven microphone Hall launches into an interesting set of Jeff Buckley-esque songs. While there was nothing wrong with Hall’s playing or ability as a performer, he was simply a victim of being inappropriately billed. Following on the madness from Udays Tiger before and with the best still yet to come, he suffers from poor sound and a lack of interest from the crowd.

For a band that recently supported DJ Shadow and were here earlier in the year supporting electronic experimentalists Seekae, Ghoul play a more guitar driven set than the group’s usual atmospherical based experimental musings. Vocalist Ivan Vizintin was charismatic on stage, but his captivating vocals suffered a bit due to poor sound. Guitarist Anthony Warwick and drummer Andrew Hannaford performed well and in perfect harmony with each other while bassist *Pavle Vizintin’*s bass was simply too loud, sucking up all the volume of the Alhambra PA.

The venue is packed by the time Jack Ladder and his band, The Dreamlanders take to the stage. Opening with latest single Beautiful Sound Ladder has already commanded the attention of the crowd with his heavy monotone voice rumbling the ground as much as the bass. Title track off latest album, Hurtsville begins with a reverb drenched drum machine that recalls a sound reminiscent of The Cure or certain pieces of Joy Division and as Ladder croons, his hips shake as he tries to get the crowd going.

Perhaps the closest thing to his earlier work featured on Hurtsville, Position Vacant follows and it is ex Mercy Arms guitarist Kirin J. Callinan’s domain as he nearly splits his guitar in half, mutilating the instruments tremolo arm. In keeping with Hurtsville, almost to the albums track order Short Memory proves to be a notable highlight with synths and thunderous drums taking the foreground as the atmospheric tension of the track captivates and really showcases the musical talents of the band.

Love is Gone gets its first airing with the re-imagined Case Closed. While the track lost its rockabilly/blues sound from the original it is very much still a fun based rocker. During Cold Feet, Ladder jumps into the crowd and dances with the ladies in the audience in this almost power ballad.

The set ends with Dumb Love and Giving Up The Give Up and when the band re-emerge for an encore of You Won’t Be Forgotten When You Leave the group perform the best they have all night. Callinan and fellow guitarist and Ghoul member Andrew Hannaford create a sonic war oh the track. It’s a good thing that Ladder is a tall man, for when he leaves the stage to dance around the venue he is generally visible from all corners of Alhambra. With dry sore throats, broken guitar strings and sticks, the band leave the stage for the final time with an appreciative crowd cheering long after the band is gone.