Denim jackets and not shaving were back in fashion for two nights in Melbourne last week. Amidst the glut of Golden Plains sideshows, the mighty Black Lips played their second Melbourne gig at the Corner on Wednesday evening after having spilled over into a second show at the Tote the night before. One gets the impression that a band of this ilk belongs at the Tote rather than the Corner, and indeed their previous tour of Melbourne saw them at that very venue, but for all their bar band homeliness the boys still managed to stir the sizeable Corner Hotel crowd into something akin to a riot.
Somebody done goofed, though, allowing Circle Pit to play the main support for the Black Lips ahead of Geelong’s Frowning Clouds. The Frowning Clouds, playing first to a thin crowd, belted out their battery of timeless garage rock tunes with the usual swagger, both endearing and full of vitality. It is criminal that their profile still remains so low, and scheduling them as the first band of their night was really a careless decision.
Sydney’s Circle Pit unfortunately failed to use the crowd’s growing anticipation to their advantage, in an effort that was decidedly sub-par. The kids were just too sloppy and lacked the structure or purpose of Frowning Clouds before them. Their brand of rock and roll, while admirably stripped-back, would nevertheless take something pretty special to bring to life in a venue of the Corner’s stature; front man Jack and co-conspirator Angela failed to engage the crowd by introducing any of their tunes, which only added to the anonymity of their performance.
Jack’s affected stage presence is neither sexy nor offensive – arguably the two main qualifiers for a successful rock star’s stage persona – merely lazy and silly. It’s one thing to have a ‘loose’ sound, but quite another to miss notes and act like somebody just dragged you up off the couch, handed you a guitar and pushed you on stage. Maybe their lacklustre attitude is endearing within the context of their established niche – i.e. Sydney – but if the punters’ constant ferrying to and fro in front of the stage was any indication of their investment in Circle Pit’s set, they still have a way to go before making it in Melbourne.
Still riding the wave of success of their ‘breakthrough’ album, last year’s Arabia Mountain, the Black Lips could almost be forgiven for getting too big for their britches. They even open their shows with some Wagnerian classical music, heralding the raising of the curtain to reveal the band shrouded in a rich purple glow. But their no frills approach remains intact, and within seconds of ‘Sea of Blasphemy,’ any sceptical notions were laid to rest. The Black Lips are nothing if not humble dudes, insisting from the outset that “this ain’t nothin’ but a party,” and it is hard not to take them at their word. ‘Family Tree,’ one of the hardest-rockin’ tracks from Arabia Mountain, followed in quick succession and instantly brought the Corner Hotel crowd to life.
‘Dirty Hands’ and ‘O Katrina!’ followed next, and within the space of these two blasts of revivalist punk energy and wailing guitar solos, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy. Crowd surfers responded to the wailing solos and three-pronged vocal attack; Cole, Jared and Ian each join in and drop out of the band’s many singalong choruses as they please, often trading places entirely just for the hell of it. It adds an improvisational streak to the band’s repertoire and ensures that the next unique moment is never too far away. Feedback reverberates from the speakers between every song, and there’s barely a moment’s silence for the duration of the set, but for all the noise and rambunctious energy, the Black Lips live show never completely masks their keen sense of melody, and ‘New Direction’ had fans grooving and dancing all the way to the back wall.
But the evening’s most special moments were yet to come. During a rousing rendition of ‘Raw Meat,’ a handful of fans stormed the stage for no other purpose than just to dance along with the band. They maintained a safe and respectful distance, at least until the song was over and high-fives were liberally doled out by each of the band members. Unwilling to let go of their moment of first-hand participation in the band’s show, the punters remained on stage until the end of ‘Bad Kids,’ by which time their numbers had grown into the dozens. For all the revelry, frenetic dancing and unsolicited mic grabs – and the fact that the fans fucked up the bands shit to the point that they interfered with the actual playing of the instruments – the chaos only made things even more awesome. Everyone, band members included, wore grins from ear to bleeding ear, and it took the best part of five minutes to vacate the stage for the inevitable encore.
Make no mistake: this wasn’t about hero worship. Everyone at the Corner Hotel on Wednesday, whether on stage or not, felt a personal involvement in the Black Lips’ stirring performance. It was refreshing to see a touring band not demand that the punters come to see them at one of their other gigs, or try to hawk their albums at the merch table, and playing the show purely on its own merits.
But what else could be expected from such genuine guys? The Black Lips are all about having a good time, even going so far as to invite the entire audience to their after party. Closing with a rousing rendition of ‘Bow Down and Die,’ the crowd again reached fever pitch, until amidst the countless hugs and all the camaraderie, the classical music and the drawing of the curtains eventually forced them back off the stage and out into the streets of Richmond.
– Darren Gubbins
