So, one of my resolutions in moving to Melbourne was being better about getting out and seeing bands. I lived in London for years and was just incredibly lame about that, I'm just embarrassed how few things I saw there. But big to medium acts, they sold out months in advance, and the smaller bands, there were like hundreds of them playing everything. Going through Time Out every week was pretty overwhelming. But I'm determined here, it will be better.
Luckily there is somewhere just a few blocks away so it isn't a huge effort. Chapel Street is mostly cafes, fancy second hand shops, trendy clothes shops, and night clubs. But Revolver also has bands some nights. And for $7, what the hell.
On the bill tonight, Red Brigades, The Sophisticants, and The Jonathans. Now I'm quite out of practice about the arrival time. I leave late to get there yet still have to wait for an hour before anything happens. Sigh. Nice comfy couches though. I sit next to the mom of two of the Jonathans. She seems familiar with lots of the songs, probably heard them from the basement/garage a lot. So, they are not so great. Revolver has a tv projection system showing strange old stock footage superimposed over live video of the band. I enjoy the stock footage, the effect is a bit like old 60s tv shows of bands, cheap video effects over strange random images. It would be fun to put together film and images like that. I keep hoping they will start rocking and get out of that groove they are in but besides the Loose Change In My Pocket song, where I think, hey, this isn't so bad, well, it is only $7.
It is a real flashback to high school/college, those earnest yet trying to be epic songs, singing that is just a bit off key and phrasings with just a few too many syllables to fit in a line ahh, good times in college, drinking and watching your buddies play and make a lot of noise. They seemed to bring a lot of their friends along, about half the crowd disappears after they finish. Must make a note for myself, Jonathan by the Jonathans, they said it is about somebody they knew who died and they named the band after him. Maybe it will fit on my dead teen song web page.
I'm a little more hopeful about the Sophisticants. While they are setting up, the bass has a nice fuzzy sound and the drummer hits really hard. When they start playing, it is amazing what a really good drummer can do for a band. He is pretty kick ass and the bass guy fits in well and makes a pretty rocking rhythm section. I can't really hear the guitar much, but they all seem to aspire to a sort of Stooges/New York Dolls sound. It is great when bands can pull off double time thrash sections, that drummer is pretty good. They throw in a few ska sounding things (was thinking of Sublime at the time) It is nice that they seem to be having a great time on stage, smiling and laughing and having fun. The singer bounces around a lot, trying different things, a bit of Elvis, some Roger Daltry, some of that guy from Sublime. I wish I could remember some of their songs now, but at least they were fun and I enjoyed watching the drummer go at it.
Red Brigades, I had high hopes for them. From the clips on their webpage, looks like 2 girls on guitar and bass making lots of noise with a boy drummer. Seems good. They play mostly slow dirges. The guitar has plenty of delay on it, sometimes looped, and lots of other effects. Seeing it live, the songs are much simpler than I thought, depending a lot on the effects, simple bass lines, and slow drumming. I still like it and occasionally they really kick it in and launch into a fast bit and jump around a lot. The violin bow on guitar technique makes me think they have other musical training. I'm pleased to see a wah-wah pedal thrown in there too, not enough of that in music anymore. They play a pretty cool set of all of this, and am quite entertained. I'm not entirely convinced by their cover of Dancing Queen, which resembles the original in very few ways, mostly the same lyrics. It is funny and a cool thing to do but somehow doesn't quite work for me entirely. I'd be interested in what other covers they could warp like that. I'll keep an eye on them and might have to check them out again sometime soon.
Midnight, Saturday night on Chapel Street, most everybody has that glazed over stumbling look of the tail end of a night out drinking. A group of girls in bed-sheet togas yells Wooo as they walk down the street. Oh my, where am I living?
