Pauhaus Festival @ PowerhouseTheatre, Brisbane, 09/06/2007

Mon 11th Jun, 2007 in Gig Reviews

The majestic Powerhouse Theatre sits on the banks of the Brisbane River at New Farm, with a good view of both the river and the wide open space of New Farm Park. What better way to celebrate the venue’s refurbishment than with the inaugural Pauhaus festival, a superb showcase of some of Brisbane and Australia’s best bands. Whether it was the grunge thrash of Violent Soho, the calm atmospherics of The Panics, or the mod-80’s rock of Red Riders, every act was entertaining, and combined to form an excellent day of music.

Local youngsters Violent Soho open the festival on the Turbine Hall stage. Violent Soho play unashamedly grunge rock, a throwback to the movement that changed music forever, way back in the early 90’s. Playing songs from their Pigs And TV EP, including Bombs Over Broadway and Generation, as well as some songs from their new EP due out soon, Violent Soho are hampered by sound problems, including a broken bass string, and the fact that large numbers of people are still outside waiting to pick up their tickets. By the end of the set, however, the room is filling up nicely (including Patience from The Grates down the front, dancing up a storm), and the crowd give the boys a warm send-off.

Opening the Powerhouse Theatre stage are Yves Klein Blue, who quickly have the floor dancing in a neon whirlwind of colourfully dressed youngsters. In their relatively short time on the Brisbane scene, YKB have continued to grow sonically, with The Streetlight and new tune Digital Love appearing as ideal examples of their tight melodies and playful arrangements. Life On Tlön is superb, with its 80s power pop piano and Bright Eyes style lyricism affecting a sense of excitement amongst the punters reacting to its immediacy and vibrancy.

Downstairs, the intimate Visy Theatre is warmed by the presence of Rosa Agostino aka Sydney’s Red Ghost. Her calm and controlled guitar movements are superb, and her vocals fill the room with emotion, in a perfect theatre atmosphere. She plays tracks from her Brittle Times EP, including Princess and the title track, and each song is greeted warmly. She ends the set with a couple of covers, and even though the room is barely half full, her set is given the loud applause it deserved.

Back upstairs, Gold Coast storm-in-a-teacup Operator Please, brimming with youthful exuberance, have the crown bouncing to their shout-along melodies and simple instrumentation. Equal parts irritating and contagious, the band’s hyperactive energy and hyper-pitched vocals are what make them simultaneously endearing to their fans and irritating to their detractors, but they manage to tread a careful balance between the two. Get What You Want ’s bitchin’ bassline and attention-grabbing chorus, including lead singer Amandah ’s best Zack de la Rocha impersonation, is a prime example of how mixing the tone of their songs counteracts their repetitive and kitschy nature. The inclusion of the undeniably cute Taylor on violin also helps. They wrap up their set with crowd favourite This Is A Song About Ping Pong.

A large crowd files into the Powerhouse Theatre to see The Temper Trap, who open with an instrumental track, before ripping into hit single My Sun. Unfortunately, mid way through the song, frontman Dougy’s amp cuts out. At the end of the song they start searching for a new amp, and Dougy apologises, saying they can’t continue until they find a new amp. Then they remember they do have some songs where Dougy doesn’t play guitar (altough how they could forget that is beyond me). They soon have their tight, guitar-driven rock songs pounding out once more, with bass player Jonny keeping the energy level up (and playing some acoustic guitar along the way). Even once the replacement amp arrives, the set never quite reaches the high standard which The Temper Trap are capable of, but it’s far from a disappointment – these guys know how to write good songs and put on a top show too.

Wons Phreely fills the gorgeous Visy Theatre to treat a near captive audience to his nuanced take on life. With inventive lyrics and compelling wordplay, his songs are engaging but unfortunately let down by forgettable melodies and instrumentation. He does construct worthy exceptions to this, when he uses his pedals to layer guitar parts over a drum sample for his version of a “dancey song”, and also when he finishes triumphantly with Whistling, which receives spirited applause.

Bit By Bats open with a wordless song that nonetheless manages to show off singer Owen Eszaki ’s rock howl, which is a cornerstone of both their recorded and live material – with mixed results. The band builds complex yet visceral soundscapes using, amongst the guitar and bass, drummer Ben Macklin ’s sample pad and a theremin, but maintains a notable underutilisation of discernable vocals. The end result is danceable and exciting music, that is ultimately superficial. Despite this, the explosive drumming and sheer urgency of Maurie and Marie is a highlight as Bit By Bats achieve what Bloc Party were reaching for on their latest album, and the eventual and welcome addition of enjoyable vocal melody in One Six One has the fans cheering.

As the sole hip-hop act on a day dominated by mod-rock, Macromantics was always going to have trouble getting the crowd energised. It’s just her and her DJ Amy on the stage, and although she has a small pocket of people at the front dancing and grooving away, her presence never really fills the gigantic Powerhouse Theatre. However, she can rhyme well, and the speed of her vocals is mind-blowing, and with Amy ripping out some superb scratching every couple of songs, Macromantics warms up in the second half of her set. If this were a smaller venue, or a more receptive crowd, there is no doubt she would rip the roof off.

Downstairs, sitting alone on the intimate Visy Theatre stage, Whitley likens the arrangement to playing in a living room, albeit with lights and fallback. His bare acoustic offering sounds like Paul Simon minus an octave, and when he reaches for the heights of his vocal range, he shows off his true emotive potential. Hunched over his guitar, he picks out gentle tunes to complement his rich and sincere voice, making the most of his warm surrounds. A tender cover of Bjork’s Hyperballad is finely stripped back and beautiful in its concomitant power and vulnerability – just one of the reasons people were queuing outside the door to get inside.

The very first impression of Red Riders on stage is that singer Alexander Grigg is dressed a whole lot like Bob Dylan, with pouffed up curly hair, curt brown bomber jacket, jeans travelling only halfway down the shins and black shoes with stark white socks. The second impression is that Red Riders know how to get the crowd jumping. It’s a full on rock show, complete with lots of smoke and flashing lights, and Red Riders take full advantage, with songs that pack more of a punch live than their recorded counterparts. What They Say About Us is impressive, with driving guitar licks and a chorus that sticks, while Slide In Next To Me is an engaging live translation, with its smooth energy and invasive hook invigorating the enthusiastic crowd and providing the set highlight, spurring a continued higher intensity for the remainder of the set.

Over on the Powerhouse Theatre stage, Dappled Cities Fly do their utmost to deliver a festival-best performance. Led by the remarkably charismatic Tim Derricourt, who dances across the stage, throwing knowing grins indiscriminately across the room and strumming his guitar and nodding his head with flair and gusto, Dappled Cities make the stage and crowd of the Powerhouse Theatre their own. Bringing the room to life with Vision Bell, the band’s trademark falsetto and creamy groove is ever present, and Powerhouse is a grand tribute to the venue, with honky tonk piano and jarring synth dancing around each other and combining magnificently. Over the years, Dappled Cities Fly have honed their unique sound into something that is instantly recognisable and timelessly loveable, and this show is a proud manifestation of that.

Brisbane boy David McCormack has the packed out Visy Theatre entertained before he even sits down. Calling the crowd ‘his friends’, he converses easily about the songs, and how much fun he’s having back in Brisbane. He plays songs from all his previous incarnations, although opener Caboolture Speed Lab sets a high standard early. It’s a standard McCormack set, including Girls Like That (Don’t Go For Guys Like Us) and The Inner West. David is the perfect showman, interacting with crowd members as though they really were his friends, and when he opens up the floor to requests for the last song of his all-too-short set, there’s lots of shouts. Eventually, he is convinced to play Millionaire Adventure Balloonist, and the crowd cheers wildly at the end. No matter how far he travels, McCormack will always have a loyal legion of Brisbane fans to call his own.

The Panics are easily the most laidback of the bands on the Turbine Hall stage today, and this, combined with their absence from Brisbane since supporting Bernard Fanning over a year ago, results in a less than huge crowd. However, they are in fine form, despite not having played a show in ages. The smoothly toe-tapping Lost In Green Eyes is a perfect opener, and the point-counterpoint of the haunting piano, the soft acoustic and the powerful electric which make up the opening of Cash is as remarkable as ever. Multi instrumentalists Jules Douglas and front man Jae Laffer are excellent, but as usual Drew Wootton’s superb guitar work steals the show. New songs sit easily alongside crowd favourites like How’s It Feel and My Best Mistake, and they close with majestic tracks Crack In The Wall and The General Calling. The Panics are now heading back into the studio, and it’s hard to imagine the results being anything but brilliant.

Expatriate are so new wave, and so gratifyingly entertaining. This, despite the grating arrogance of singer Ben King who is decked out in black glory – from his black jeans and jacket to the shadowy sunnies that never left his face. Fortunately, King makes up for this with his voice and the collective performance of the band, as they throw the polished sheen off the somewhat over-produced recorded songs and make them infinitely more real and accessible. Showing off most of their new album to an increasingly receptive audience, it’s the more melodic of their bleak yet danceable tunes that are most successful; Get Out, Get In, Crazy and Times Like These drive the pulsing crowd to lift a notch each time. Halting the show momentarily, King grabs his camera and snaps a photo of a rapturously posed crowd before snappily busting out The Spaces Between, his soaring tones inspiring many a trendy dance move.

Not even a drunken crowd member knocking over Ed Kuepper’s 12-string after soundcheck can prevent the legendary Brisbane singer-songwriter from delivering a short but ripper set of acoustic numbers. Operating sans partner-in-crime and drummer Jeffrey Wegener, Kuepper easily compensates for the lack of percussion by amping up his softly drawled vocals and injecting extra power into his delicate country-styled guitar. With cellist Jane Elliott deftly supplying the bassline, and Kuepper filling out the sound with impromptu foot stomping, an extended version of live staple Little Fiddle is received rapturously. Later, the arrangement of Black Ticket Day features the cello as a constant rumble under Kuepper’s ringing six string. A couple of new songs from forthcoming album Jean Lee and the Yellow Dog [part one] also make a promising debut, but the crowd is slowly abandoning him for the Grates upstairs. Nevertheless, the Visy Theatre is still half full when things up with a bare-bones rendition of The Way I Made You Feel that’s even better than the original.

The Grates, closing out the day in one final spirited burst, don’t miss a beat. Despite the initial reluctance of some to hear yet another Grates song, the unbridled enthusiasm and excitement of singer Patience Hodgson quickly wins over any nay-sayers. Hodgson is as gushy and chatty as ever, her wild stage antics clear manifestations of her joy at being back on stage and partying with her fans. And party they did, with Howl, Science Is Golden and Lies providing an infectious soundtrack. Particularly welcome are songs from their original EP, Wash Me and Message, and new creations like Blue November; opportunities for Alana Skyring ’s often underrated drumming to set a strong platform for John Patterson ’s simplistic yet fun riffs, topped off of course by Hodgson’s playful antics. From anyone else, The Grates’ sickly sweet sentiment would be dismissed with cynicism, but Hodgson doesn’t seem to have a disingenuous bone in her wildly cavorting body – they do things remarkably simply but at least they do them well, with heart and with a catchy as hell tune.

Between the powerful performances and the inspiring improvements to the Powerhouse Theatre, it’s been a great day for live music. There is no doubt it will be the source of many a great music memory to come.

By Liam McGinniss aka gumbuoy, Tom Slater aka tom_slater1 and Stephen Goodwin aka demosthenes