The Dirty Three, Ed Kuepper &Jeffrey Wegener @ The Tivoli,Brisbane (16/06/06)

Mon 19th Jun, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Take a generous helping of rippling, swirling violin. Make sure it’s heavy on the reverb and not averse to the occasional pizzicato. Add deliciously fluid, scattershot drums and blend with some gorgeous guitar melodies, a dash of irresistable mandolin and a splash of bass.

Simmer for two hours and garnish with delightful semi-incoherent rambling, amusing crowd comments and sharp comebacks.Voila! One Dirty Three concert.

Serves: 700 buoyant, expectant fans.

But even before the Dirty Three hit the stage, the crowd is thrilled by a virtuouso display from none other than Brisbane’s own Ed Kuepper and his partner-in-crime Jeffrey Wegener on the drums. Right from opener ‘Honey Steel’s Gold’ we’re treated to what feels like nothing so much as a super-tight jam session as Kuepper and Wegener delve into the back-catalogue and happily remaster, reinvent and re-interpret a grab-bag of classics.

Kuepper dips, weaves and sways enthusiastically as ‘Little Fiddle’ energises the swelling audience, then launches into a rousing version of ‘We’re the Laughing Clowns’. More Laughing Clowns classics follow, at turns urgent and relentless, then slow and sombre, but always utterly mesmerising, as Kuepper’s fingers flick up and down the fretboard languidly picking out the notes.

They close with an enthralling, hi-tempo rendition of ‘Eternally Yours’ with Wegener and Kuepper competing like two kids to see who can play the faster. It concludes all too soon in a wall of sustained feedback with Kuepper grabbing one of Wegener’s sticks and tapping it against the frets of his guitar before joining Wegener for an impromptu drum duet. The best only improve with age—a bit like a bottle of Grange Hermitage, really.

The Dirty Three lay on a performance of two parts. Early on, tracks from Cinder dominate. And where the album versions are all restraint and precision, the live experience is powerful and dominated by thickly distorted reverb—particularly on Ellis’s violin.

‘Flutter’ morphs serenely into ‘Ever Since’ and the trio is joined by guest bassist Josh. White’s wrists flex like rubber and patter softly at the drums while Ellis kicks out and gestures dramatically with a hand at the audience. Matrix-like challenge or come-hither motion? It’s hard to tell.

‘Sad Sexy’ and ‘The Zither Player’ complete a thrilling opening. Slow, mournful and dirgelike, the former is oddly twisted and clipped, while the latter’s urgent, rolling drums and screaming violin draws some of the biggest cheers of the night after it concludes in a trainwreck finish of crackling, whining feedback.

Ellis, White and Turner then proceed to delve into the vault, delivering a completely contrasting second half that reveals the incredible layering and complexity of their early material. Songs such as ‘Everything is Fucked’, ‘Authentic Celestial Music’ and ‘Sea Above, Sky Below’ trade contrasting musical themes, quasi-symphonic arrangements and time signatures off against each other in the Dirty Three’s typical clench-release pattern. It’s also an opportunity for Ellis to display his trademark microphone wit.

After a long, diverging tale about why ‘Sea Above, Sky Below’ is a song where even the sweet old lady down the milkbar tells him to get fucked, then completely randomly deciding that the milkbar must be off “Wegener Street”, a cheerful patron yells out incoherently that said street has to be located off Vulture Street. So incoherently, in fact, that Ellis is unable to comprehend him at all.

After several ineffectual retries, another punter helps out Ellis, who turns back to the first fellow and advises that he doesn’t think their partnership is working.

“Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis would have traded 10 jokes in that time.”

The very next song, another fellow yells out incomprehensibly. Ellis whips back instantly: “I think you need to speak to that other bloke up there.” and the crowd laughs as one.

Most bands could never pull off such rambling divergences mid gig. It’d come off as self-indulgent. Or annoying. Somehow, Ellis’s earnest charm allows him to succeed with ease.

They conclude with the ever-stirring ‘Sue’s Last Ride’. To a chorus of cheers and whistles, Ellis specially dedicates it to Grant McLennan —because it’s “a song about waking up dead and realising that no-one’s talking to you”. Its grandiose themes mix equal parts cacophony and melody, constantly hovering on the edge of dicordia as Ellis and White drive each other on to the inevitable lathering conclusion.

It’s not nearly enough for the crowd though, who hoot, stomp, whistle and scream until the band relents and plays ‘Some Summers They Drop Like Flys’. Then, as if to prove that they aren’t all post-rock, instrumental artiness, they throw in a cover after some huddled discussion. With Turner, Ellis and bassist Josh all belting out the lyrics, but none brave enough to go near a microphone, it’s a safe bet that this probably isn’t a future direction for the Dirty Three.

A fun way to end a great night though.