Stepping into Brisbane Festival’s Spiegeltent feels like winning a golden Wonka ticket. The near circular layout and ornate wooden interior invite you into to a tiny world that you share with a privileged few. Gold foil streamers hang down and a glare of coloured LEDs pull your eyes to the long staging. There’s no venue quite like it.
Yet a venue is only as good as the performance it contains, and Dick Diver presented an enthusiastic but musically understated show. Never before has a band so casually strolled onto stage, Al Montfort’s vivid Hawaiian shirt instantly the loudest thing in the room. “Obviously I’m a regular Elton John,” joked guitarist Rupert Edwards who led the opening with some gentle piano.
The second song was apparently previously requested from a fan in the audience, and whilst nothing to write home about, it’s promising to see a band so intent on engaging the fans right from the get go. Dick Diver show their strength early, harmonising their vocals beautifully and carrying a strong chorus out into the night. It was especially powerful with the single female voice swirling throughout.
The band have certainly honed their sound too, with surf-pop guitar sounds meeting country vibes, and elements of blues creeping in. Quirky song titles gave a sense of loving life and a desire to take it easy. They took a literal approach to their songs, taking mundane experiences and turning them into witty life stories. No other artist could have taken an audience on a journey of horses, tea towels and the “Queen’s hat.”
Their third song, apparently titled “Ditch Tony Abbott” gives some idea of the inspiration for their writing. They kept this humour up throughout their set, gently goading the audience into playing along.
A funny moment ensued right after the band had asked the crowd to cheer for their favourite Gold Coast theme park. The singer presented only three options, much to the dismay of a lady near the front, who adamantly yelled out “SeaWorld” to anybody who would listen. No one really did, but her persistence shows the genial atmosphere that the band effortlessly created inside the tent.
A recurring reference the group made was their recent trip to Wet ‘n’ Wild, a Gold Coast Theme Park, which was “horrendous in an amazing way,” according to drummer Steph Hughes, really emphasising their ‘from out of town’ vibe.
This led into the song “Water Deluge” which was the point in the set when the flaws began to show. Unfortunately, whilst the band were talented enough to keep chopping and changing stage positions, instruments and even vocalists , the choice seemed arbitrary and not always suited to the song. Steph Hughes would flick onto vocals and guitar, the guitarist to drums, but this didn’t affect the performance in any major way, it just created pauses between songs.
Rupert Edwards proved by far to be the best vocalist, and he could well have brought something extra to the songs he didn’t sing on. There was some flat-lining in the energy of the show too. Each song hovered around the same mid tempo beat, with an absence of layered drums to pad out the consistent drone of the kick drum and snare.
As the performance progressed, the absence of guitar melodies and abrupt song endings left the impression that there was supposed to be more to each song, as if they weren’t quite finished.
Not all was lost though; there were a couple of real attention grabbers near the end of the set, including “Calendar Days,” and a surprisingly good instrumental piece. Dick Diver were at their best again as those warm, triple vocal harmonies captivated the room, and the audience responded better than they has all performance.
Little guitar riffs also came out to play, albeit too quiet for the space, followed up with some cool tempo changes. The whole set needed to have more of this, but the crowd certainly seemed to love every minute.
Dick Diver delivered what could only have been a stunning performance for the fans in the crowd. Newcomers to their style need a bit more to go on given that Brisbane Festival is awash with talent this year. But this Melbourne group are certainly unique and a guaranteed to deliver a laugh or two.
