Adelaide band Wolf and Cub were an interesting surprise, playing a 45 minute, 7 song set of chest thumping 70s throwback prog rock. The fourth song was an epic twelve minutes long. They were technically brilliant, and the two drummers were amazing to watch as they played in tandem and drove the massive sound of the songs. It did feel a little tedious at times though, particularly towards the end of the set; musically they could be a bit more adventurous. Also, weirdly, the sparse vocals were a detraction and we could've done without them.
TV on the Radio played an energetic, absorbing hour and a half to a rapt, packed crowd. They started with Young Liars, a surprising choice, but it worked as a great introduction to frontman Tunde Adebimpe's awesome style (getting his groove on from the start, dancing up a storm until his shirt turned a light terracotta to a dark brown from sweat), and the falsetto vocal/harmony from Kyp Malone.
Unfortunately, the muddy sound that would plague the entire night was also evident from the start, which meant that at any given time, the distinctive vocals of either singer could be buried under a chaotic wall of guitar-heavy sound. That said, there were still moments of brilliant music from the 7 piece band on stage (two saxophonists rounded out the line-up and helped to add that brassy note that a lot of the newer songs have), with the crowd particularly worked up over the songs from Return to Cookie Mountain.
A lot of the songs were given more muscular arrangments live, which worked really well in the case of the older songs like Dreams and Staring at the Sun. They played a great set stretching back to early EP material, punctuated by a lot of songs from last year's Dear Science; though in my mind the highlight of the night was the back to back pairing of Golden Age, as funky as you could get, and the howling amazing Wolf Like Me. Apart from the disappointment of not hearing Family Tree nor Halfway Home, and even with the bad sound, there was a lot to enjoy from the band, and their tight, high energy, passionate performance that got the crowd moving and singing along.
Young Liars
The Wrong Way
Dreams
Crying
Golden Age
Wolf Like Me
Dirtywhirl
Stork and Owl
Shout It Out
Dancing Choose
Red Dress
DLZ
Satellite
Love Dog
Blues from Down Here
Let the Devil In
Staring at the Sun
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Lupe Fiasco - 20 Jan 2009 - Enmore Theatre
From the moment Lupe came on stage, there was this incredible energy in the theatre, feeding the crowd, and feeding off the crowd. The first half - about five songs - was brilliant, starting with an early hit, Kick Push, that had the crowd singing along and dancing to the infectious beat, and ended with his fantastic rapping skill demonstrated in Go Go Gadget Flow, living up to the boast of the chorus. The band was amazing - tight, and as into the performance as Lupe himself, jumping and dancing to their funky selves.
So far, so good. Though the small breaks between songs constantly decreased the intensity of the energy, it was cute to see Lupe to stand at the side of the stage, literally trying to cool down with the help of a fan, leading to Lupe gleefully repeat a sad joke about the audience waving their hands at him - "fans as fans".
But then the night becamed unfocussed, unstuck. Even though the night continued with a string of well received songs, after only fifty minutes on stage Lupe was performing his big hit from last year, Superstar, ending with a drawn out, almost angry outro, milking the popularity of the song for all it was worth.
After a brief intermission, where no one actually left the stage so the audience had no idea whether the night was almost over, or just starting, Lupe reeled off line after line from songs everyone wanted to hear - but a line was all we were going to get. Tease. Then Lupe went into a ramble about Obama ushering in a new and wonderful age by tomorrow morning, and the crowd went nuts, and it served as an extended intro for last song Daydreamin', which featured his awesome guitar player and his falsetto. Right after that the concert was over though, and it was all to soon for my liking.
A solid performance, and the first half was truly amazing, but it just kind of peetered out and felt a little unsatisfying.
Kick Push
Hip Hop Saved My Life
Sunshine
I Gotcha
Go Go Gadget Flow
? (might have been a song here)
Hi-Definition
Paris Tokyo
We Love You
Superstar
Daydreamin'
So far, so good. Though the small breaks between songs constantly decreased the intensity of the energy, it was cute to see Lupe to stand at the side of the stage, literally trying to cool down with the help of a fan, leading to Lupe gleefully repeat a sad joke about the audience waving their hands at him - "fans as fans".
But then the night becamed unfocussed, unstuck. Even though the night continued with a string of well received songs, after only fifty minutes on stage Lupe was performing his big hit from last year, Superstar, ending with a drawn out, almost angry outro, milking the popularity of the song for all it was worth.
After a brief intermission, where no one actually left the stage so the audience had no idea whether the night was almost over, or just starting, Lupe reeled off line after line from songs everyone wanted to hear - but a line was all we were going to get. Tease. Then Lupe went into a ramble about Obama ushering in a new and wonderful age by tomorrow morning, and the crowd went nuts, and it served as an extended intro for last song Daydreamin', which featured his awesome guitar player and his falsetto. Right after that the concert was over though, and it was all to soon for my liking.
A solid performance, and the first half was truly amazing, but it just kind of peetered out and felt a little unsatisfying.
Kick Push
Hip Hop Saved My Life
Sunshine
I Gotcha
Go Go Gadget Flow
? (might have been a song here)
Hi-Definition
Paris Tokyo
We Love You
Superstar
Daydreamin'
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Stars - 3 Jan 2009 - The Factory
Missed Bridezilla, who played first, but caught second support act, Newcastle band Firekites. They were fine - very young, and intensely quiet in performance, with moody atmospheric songs, largely instrumental. Their stagecraft needs work; the lead singer mumbled into the microphone between songs and I'll be damned if I have any idea what he said.
Stars came on a little late, but threw themselves into the performance from the start. Torq started grabbing bunches of petals from the flowers strewn across their amps and tied to their mike stands, and threw them into the air like white confetti as a mood setter, and they were as idiosyncratic and sweet from there on.
I think they had some minor sound problems, and sometimes the instruments (particularly the keyboard) overwhelmed Amy and Torq's voices, but overall they sounded good together. Especially when Amy and Torq harmonised and sang to each other; I will never tire of hearing how their voices work together. Alone, Amy has a lovely, light tone, while Torq is a little rougher and less polished, but somehow their voices just mesh perfectly.
I really do think their partnership is the backbone of the band; even their banter complements each other. When Torquill started rambling about losing his glasses, and not being able to see into the crowd without them, Amy cut in, saying "I have perfect vision", telling Torq that she couldn't share his gripe. At which Torq said, rather put out (in a joking way!), "Perfect pitch. Perfect vision. Amy Millan, she's just too perfect," or something like that, and made a face. Then he gave Amy the finger and she just giggled along with the rest of us. But he obviously adored her, and spent most of the night either singing to her, or leaning into her space to sing with her.
The crowd was fairly subdued to start with; even during well-known and upbeat tracks like Ageless Beauty there were swathes of people in front of us standing stock-still. This could be explained in part by the fact that a good part of their usual fanbase, the indie hipster crowd, was probably across town at the sold out Fleet Foxes gig instead; something Torq himself acknowledged when thanking the crowd for being here instead of there, or at least for buying a ticket to Stars once FF sold out.
Highlights included the joy on their faces as they let the crowd sing their best-known song, Your Ex-Lover is Dead, to them; the very cute sad robot impression Torq did on Amy's command: "That was your sad impression, where was the robot?" "It's inside."; and the chaos of the penultimate song, Calendar Girl, as Torquill crawled onto the middle of the crowd on the floor, with fans surrounding on their knees, as he yelled the song's refrain, "I'm alive!" over and over again, joyously and manically, to the end. When he finally returned to the stage, his face was so red from the exertion, but he was grinning from ear to ear. The energy they put into the show, and that they drew from the crowd, was amazing, and well worth seeing.
Stars came on a little late, but threw themselves into the performance from the start. Torq started grabbing bunches of petals from the flowers strewn across their amps and tied to their mike stands, and threw them into the air like white confetti as a mood setter, and they were as idiosyncratic and sweet from there on.
I think they had some minor sound problems, and sometimes the instruments (particularly the keyboard) overwhelmed Amy and Torq's voices, but overall they sounded good together. Especially when Amy and Torq harmonised and sang to each other; I will never tire of hearing how their voices work together. Alone, Amy has a lovely, light tone, while Torq is a little rougher and less polished, but somehow their voices just mesh perfectly.
I really do think their partnership is the backbone of the band; even their banter complements each other. When Torquill started rambling about losing his glasses, and not being able to see into the crowd without them, Amy cut in, saying "I have perfect vision", telling Torq that she couldn't share his gripe. At which Torq said, rather put out (in a joking way!), "Perfect pitch. Perfect vision. Amy Millan, she's just too perfect," or something like that, and made a face. Then he gave Amy the finger and she just giggled along with the rest of us. But he obviously adored her, and spent most of the night either singing to her, or leaning into her space to sing with her.
The crowd was fairly subdued to start with; even during well-known and upbeat tracks like Ageless Beauty there were swathes of people in front of us standing stock-still. This could be explained in part by the fact that a good part of their usual fanbase, the indie hipster crowd, was probably across town at the sold out Fleet Foxes gig instead; something Torq himself acknowledged when thanking the crowd for being here instead of there, or at least for buying a ticket to Stars once FF sold out.
Highlights included the joy on their faces as they let the crowd sing their best-known song, Your Ex-Lover is Dead, to them; the very cute sad robot impression Torq did on Amy's command: "That was your sad impression, where was the robot?" "It's inside."; and the chaos of the penultimate song, Calendar Girl, as Torquill crawled onto the middle of the crowd on the floor, with fans surrounding on their knees, as he yelled the song's refrain, "I'm alive!" over and over again, joyously and manically, to the end. When he finally returned to the stage, his face was so red from the exertion, but he was grinning from ear to ear. The energy they put into the show, and that they drew from the crowd, was amazing, and well worth seeing.
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