I hadn’t been to The Exchange since they changed the name to Electric Light and I was surprised by the change in the atmosphere. There were lots of younger people, but this was because it was an all ages show, different furniture and it definitely had an edgier, alternative feel than the old Exchange.
The alternative crowd was to be expected with a band like The Red Paintings. Their reputation precedes them and I’d been told by many people that the Brisbane band did more than just play music, it was a real performance and the night didn’t fail to meet the expectations I had.
The set began with two girls in wolf masks howling to the moon. They were only wearing underwear and black body paint and their entrancing movements had everyone’s attention. The lead singer, Trash McSweeny, then entered Little Red Riding Hood style in a red cap, dress and basket of goodies and was joined by the rest of the five piece outfit. The rest of the Red Painting wore silk kimonos and Geisha style makeup, setting the scene for the final show of their Animal Rebellion Tour.
The violin and cello gave the guitar, bass, drums side of things an orchestral overtone yet the music still maintained a heavy rock feel with short, fast and loud suddenly dissolving into sweet vocal based tunes. The Fall of Rome was bought down to bass and violin whilst the resident artists for the night were introduced and started to paint on the huge canvases on either side of the stage. They continued painting for the rest of the gig, giving the audience even more cool things to look at. The black wolf girls were also being painted at the front of the stage whilst Trash McSweeny quickly skipped off the stage for a costume stage. He reappeared in a marching band uniform with a hand-wound music box and began a softer track before realising that the set was nearly over and it was time to heat things up. Trash jumped from the stage and ran around in the crowd, urging people to run with him until there was a whirlpool of runners. He ran along the bar top and threw a heap of plastic straws into the crowd before returning to the stage for some spectacular jumps off the drum kit and finally finished by lying on the ground.
The Red Paintings gave a creative and inspired performance. Much more than music. It was visually interesting, amazingly cool and sometimes a bit freaky. Hopefully nothing will get stolen this time and The Red Paintings will want to come back to Adelaide soon.
