Cuma 23 Nis 2010, 22:08
Fri 23 Apr – STEM ALBUM LAUNCH
I saw Pikelet over two years ago in Perth, at Mojo's that time. She was solo then, and I really enjoyed her show. You can read my review here. Last night I wasn't sure what to expect, because I knew she was with a full band. I had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn't enjoy it as much, and it turned out I was right! But first I'll talk about the support acts.
The first was Wind Waker, who were a "prog rock" band (at one point a guy in the audience yelled out, "That was very prog!" and the guy on stage called, "Thanks!"), but who really reminded me of Sleater-Kinney. It wasn't just because they had a female guitarist who sang like Corin Tucker, but it was her playing style as well and their overall sound. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that SK were one of their greatest influences, but would be surprised if they said they weren't. :D I enjoyed their sound but it got a bit much in the end…there's only so much choppy-changey schizophrenic-sounding music a girl can take at one time, at least when she's not on drugs!
Guy Blackman was up next, and our catch cry of the evening became, "Go the Casio!!" He was playing a keyboard and singing in a sort of earnest, unflowery voice. One song was apparently about his mother, and then we kept thinking that all his songs were about his mum. At one point I said to Robyn, "I hope that's not about his mother!" (a song where he was talking about "being under the quilt with you"). His music was a bit like that song by Tool, Intermission. A very cute song, but hardly rock 'n roll. Some people in the audience were really getting into it, gettin' down on the dance floor to the Casio grooves. I just thought the guy was amusing, but I admit I did enjoy listening to his set.
Pond were up before the main event, and they reminded me immediately of Tame Impala, The Dee Dee Dums, Mink Mussel Creek, that kind of thing. But slightly less 70s psychedelic rock and more modern prog rock prettiness. All the guys were excellent musicians, although I think the lead singer guy was more of a mediocre guitarist than the rest. They all swapped instruments throughout the set, and the lead singer guy was mostly just singing, but for a few songs he played guitar. The taller blondeish guy with the white guitar (at first, but they did swap!!) was an excellent guitarist, and the bassist was great too. The drummer rocked, and I always appreciate a good drummer. Of course, nobody will ever compare to my favourite Aussie drummer, the guy who used to be in the above-mentioned bands (Dee Dee Dums & MMC) before he parted ways with them. Anyway… The lead singer guy was obviously high on something, and laughed in that "I'm high omg" sort of way, and kept playing with his hair, and kept talking nonsense (sometimes, other times it made sense…) in between songs. But he had an excellent voice. He still struck me as the kind of guy who might have an overdose someday and be one of those mourned musical legends. Here's hoping I'm wrong. And don't sue me!!
Finally it was time for Pikelet to get on stage, and I soon found that a) they apparently weren't going to be playing any songs from the first album, and b) they were interested less in the actual songs and more in just making as many weird noises during each song as they could. I am probably being a bit unduly harsh, but a lot of the songs just ended up being overwhelming (not in a good way) and made my brian flail. Yes, I meant to say 'brian'. I really love Pikelet's debut CD, but I'm a little worried that if I buy the new one it'll sound like it did while they were playing it on stage. Which wouldn't interest me. Evelyn still has an amazing voice and she is using it in a more forceful way than before, which is good. But I honestly think that was the only thing I liked about the show. Though I did enjoy one of the bandmember's trumpet playing - I think his name is Tarquin, not sure how you spell it. That part of it I liked. Still, I found the multitudinous layering of this and that effect/sound overwhelming and not pleasant on the ears. I couldn't help thinking how in a few weeks I'll be seeing some good old-fashioned rock 'n roll when I go to The Cult. And couldn't help looking forward to that even as Pikelet was still on stage.
Eventually we left before the set had even ended, which I felt a bit bad about, but honestly I'd just had enough of musical cacophony for one night! And it's not that I'm getting old (though I surely am :D). It's more that I'm too old for so much experimentation packed into one evening!