What is it about seeing a band in the flesh that satisfies us in a way that the spin of an album simply can’t?
There’s the music, of course, but ostensibly there has to be something greater than that – it’s easy enough to get your listening fix staying in with a glass of wine and a good record.
There’s something in the promise of live music that lures us off our comfortable couches and out into a wintery Melbourne eve. Is it the physical energy of a live band? The potential promise of a great performance (or the spectacle a mortifyingly bad one?) Or maybe we’re all just seeking a little human connection?
Whatever the reason, the switched-on souls who made a point of catching The Black Angels excellent set at Harvest Festival late last year will know that this is a band who pack a live punch.
Yet the Palace is feeling oddly empty tonight. Supporting bands The Murlocs and The Laurels both play to a patchy crowd, a shame given the high calibre of both of these groups. In particular, Sydneysiders The Laurels lay down a loud, thick psychedelic welcome mat for the main act.
The Black Angels take the stage, and the Texan four piece (five tonight, with touring member Rishi Dhir on guitar and bass) open with the skittering guitar of “Vikings”, matched by the dreamy, drifting spots of light that drift across the band like muted headlights on a dark highway. “I Hear Colours” then signals a switch of gears, and a set list rich with new material indicates that The Black Angels are eager to show off their most recent offering, Indigo Meadow, which was released earlier this year.
Like a musical lovechild of early 60s pop and late 60s psychadelia, “I Hear Colors” gets the electricity humming through the air with rolling drums and heavy keys – though the trebly, reverby vocals from frontman Alex Maas have a disconcerting resemblance to Grace Slick warbling through “Someone To Love”.
“Don’t Play With Guns” is enthusiastically received by the crowd, the melodic chorus making this track a veritable sing along number, especially with the band’s energetic delivery. The rather excellent tiger stripe patterns slinking across the screen behind the group also lend a pleasantly hallucinogenic air to the proceedings. “Evil Things” follows and is fantastically swampy, and is up there with “Don’t Play With Guns” as a crowd pleaser.
The lighter Indigo Meadow sound continues through to “Broken Soldier”, with shimmering maracas and staccato drumming. “Holland” is one of the more forgettable numbers, as the band temporarily lose momentum with a limp song that sounds strangely Placebo-influenced.
“Entrance Song”, from 2010’s Phosphene Dream, is a sexy, dark miasma of chanting vocals, winding guitar and Stephanie Bailey’s solid drum beats, and is a welcome reminder of the heavier, grittier Black Angels sound amid the more accessible fare of Indigo Meadow.
Dipping into their back catalogue is in fact where The Black Angels really shine. The band deliver a rolling, rocking version of ““Black Grease” and with its hollow, echoing drums, “Yellow Elevator” is reminiscent of the unabashed 70s swagger of Ted Nugent’s Strangehold.
An extended encore rounds out the set, and a brilliant version of “Science Killer” with a hammering dose of double drumming is a clever flourish from the frontrunners of the psych rock resurgence.
Despite the strength they bring to their live performances, The Black Angels are a band of few words. Between songs, there’s little in the way of chit chat, with the reticent group seemingly preferring to channel their energy into the music. And an impressive set of music it is. We leave with a sense of the band’s obvious talent, but perhaps wishing we could have seen a little more of The Black Angels personality shining through too – we’re only human, after all.
