A cool wintry night at the Artrage Bakery saw a steadily building crowd witness an impressive display from a couple of local bands and the ever impressive My Disco from Melbourne. The Bakery being the Artrage complex, might lead you to expect there to be a bit of an arty crowd – and going by the liberal fashionistas, you’re probably not wrong.
Luckily for all present the originality in the music exceeded even that of the most zanily dressed. Well perhaps not Andrew, guitarist of opening band Cease, who took to the stage in a hodge-podge ensemble of fishnet and Lycra. But if you chose to avert your eyes the aural delights served up by this band were well worth their absurd physical appearance. They conjure up a daunting, sludgy beast that builds like a snowball rolling down the Matterhorn, cymbal crashes breaking through the cavernous sound like shattering stalactites. You find yourself closing your eyes and getting lost in the music and when you turn your attention back to the odd bods on stage it is over.
The Tigers were the perfect band to bridge the gap between the drone of Cease and the pulsating rhythms of My Disco. The Tigers’ indie-style rock numbers showed off the wares of a band equally as capable playing building melodic tunes as abrasive post-punk rockers. Let’s Marry Him Off was the highlight as they showed they were another band you could just stand and watch mouth a-gasp as their tunes take over.
My Disco’s Liam Andrews (bass, vocals), Ben Andrews (guitar) and Rohan Rebiro (drums) made their way onto the stage and with little fuss got straight down to business. By that point, a big crowd had filled the inner expanses of the venue, with many eager punters keen to be involved in Their Disco.
My Disco’s opus is their prodigious ability to create something out of what is seemingly chaos. Ben, a left-handed guitarist, played his right-handed fender upside down Hendrix style, creating beautiful little injections of dissonant guitar chords. All three instruments played different rhythms but the three musicians seamlessly merged their musings into something far greater than the sum of the parts. Watching, you couldn’t help but be overcome by their infectious grooves, but at the same time in awe and on edge due to the manic tones of their music. Perfect Protection, the opener from the band’s 2006 debut Cancer made a late appearance in the set and was a highlight, given the crowd’s response. My Disco’s set ended as it had begun, sharply and with little fuss, the band letting their considerable talent do all the talking.
