The Drones, Adalita @ TheHifi, Brisbane (28/10/11)

Mon 31st Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Tonight is a sold out affair for Australia’s most beloved alternative rockers The Drones as they return to Brisbane for the first time in years to celebrate their debut live DVD, A Thousand Mistakes. Fans young and old have crammed into every corner of the Hifi, all gleaming with anticipation for Liddiard and crew to take to the stage.

Tonight’s only support comes from Magic Dirt frontwoman Adalita. Having released her critically acclaimed and commercially successful debut solo album earlier in the year, a large crowd has gathered to see her renowned live show. Adalita Srsen herself is situated to the right of the stage armed only with a bright red floor tom and an occasional guitar, while on the other side multi instrumentalist JP Shilo fills out their sound using violins, guitars and organs to recreate the album’s songs in a dark and far more experimental setting. Adalita’s live show at points has nods towards bands such as The Dirty Three or the electric version of The Drones frontman Gareth Liddiard’s solo material, with the addition of distorted violin and sprawling soundscapes to her sound. Most of the set sees her and Shilo down on the ground fiddling around with loop pedals. Tracks like the sprawling rocker Goin’ Down rumble the venue and drip attitude while the haunting sounds of The Repairer see Adalita expand her vocals far beyond her work with Magic Dirt. Playing a solid hour long set, Adalita could have easily been headlining tonight and entertained the crowd throughout her set.

With the venue packed to the brim with little room to breathe or move, The Drones walk onto the stage to the bizarrely appropriate Baha Men classic Who Let The Dogs Out. The band wastes no time as they launch straight into their set. From the very start, frontman Gareth Liddiard’s voice is perfectly harsh as he yells into his microphone with more angst and energy than his youth. Tonight the group have an additional member on keyboard for most of the set. An odd choice so early in the set, the hauntingly discordant piano riff of Locust sends chills down spines. A cover, now Drones staple of Kev Carmondy’s River of Tears is disturbingly dark and mesmerising as a wall of sound is built through the thunderous drums and Liddiard’s spitting vocal delivery.

Having taken to the Hifi stage a little over a week ago wowing the audience under his solo guise supporting Okkervil River, drummer Mike Noga is just as impressive holding up the back line as his hard hitting drums sit perfectly in time and drive a lot of the experimental guitar work of Liddiard. Having switched back to electric, Liddiard’s guitar dangles off his shoulders and sits around his ankles as he launches into classic Shark Fin Blues a highlight that sees Liddiard nearly snap the tremolo arm off his bright red gitbox. Refusing to let up on the energy, Havilah classic The Minotaur continues with Noga’s exploratory drum delivery sounding perfect over Dan Luscombe ’s slide guitar riffage. The beautifully dark rocker Jezebel continues with the crowd clearly loving every minute as Liddiard thrashes around the stage in an impressive show of musicianship and emotion.

It’s pure angst from the first first notes of Gala Mill’s classic I Don’t Ever Want to Change as the venue erupts in song during the fast paced chorus in this purely Australian punk classic. Liddiard, Luscombe and bassist Fiona Kitschin ’s vocal harmonies are intense and with guitars swinging around on stage the band exit to wild applause. With the crowd obviously wanting more, it’s Noga and Liddiard that return to the stage to play Sixteen Straws. Noga comes to the front of the stage to play harmonica as Liddiard croons with his acoustic in this Brisbane colonial era inspired track that is seeming to become a staple when any of the members of The Drones come to Brisbane. With the rest of the band reemerging for the more upbeat finale Oh My, they have one final burst of energy to spew over the crowd as Liddiard flails about the stage sending out feedback and delay driven noise.

The Drones are one of Australia’s true musical talents and to this day they remain one of the strongest live performers. With talks of a possible new album in the works, we can only hope that it will not be as long for their next visit to Brisbane’s waters.