Let’s be honest, Adelaide is not the most eventful place in the world. We Adelaidians take pleasure in the few events presented to us – the Clipsal, the Royal Adelaide Show, the Fringe Festival… But arguably most of all, Adelaide basks in its exceptional music scene. It’s no wonder why we might base an entire week’s worth of events on a single gig.
Minds should be blown when blessed with such established international musical acts, but sadly when it comes to HQ’s dual headliner of the Dandy Warhols and Silversun Pickups, few more words come to mind than, ‘Meh’.
The night began modestly enough; Opening act Los Campesinos! made an impressionable entrance with some humbling indie-emo tunes. The best of the night was seen with renditions of “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed” and “Songs About Your Girlfriend”, songs of raw honesty and teenage angst.
The band were the true highlight of the night, it’s sad to see their formation in 2006 and subsequent slow rise in popularity may have came too little too late, with each track well suited for one of the soundtracks to The O.C.
Crowds began to squeeze in under HQ’s giant disco ball in anticipation for the Dandy Warhols’ not-so-lengthy return. Promoting the 2012 album, This Machine, the foursome stumbled on stage in true rock star fashion: drunk, drugged and ready for rehab!
Within moments, each member’s awkward stage task, aside from their musical talents, were revealed to their cheering audiences: Keyboardist Zia McCabe, dancing with herself, drummer Brent DeBoer, rocking giant mutton-chops, and guitarist Peter Holmström, standing subtly in the corner while frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor flaunts his sexualised ego.
Succumbing to fans both old and new, the Dandy’s played the commercial favourite “We Used To Be Friends” early on, in a slower manner with a bluesy vibe.”
While in writing, this may sound all well-and-good, the revival came off as nothing if not lazy. Not surprisingly, Taylor-Taylor revealed moments later that he couldn’t even read his set list, while fans gasped in awe and probable disappointment.
The rest of the set could only be described as musically bipolar. While classics “Bohemian Like You” and “Get Off” reminded audiences of the Dandy’s they know and love; newbies like “The Autumn Carnival” and “When They’re Gone” overshadowed the good moments, and quite poorly at that.
To some, their exit may have been responded to with a sigh of relief.
The remaining gig-goers scuffled to the stage, ready for the night’s closers, Sliversun Pickups, returning a few of the enthused attitudes seen earlier in the night.
From early on, in performances of “Bloody Mary” and “Busy Bees”, it was made apparent that the Dandy Warhols were merely playing second fiddle to the real headline of the evening.
Silversun Pickups made no secret of their love for their few but nonetheless loyal Aussie fans, with frontman Brian Aubert going as far to demand the lights be turned on so he could see his audience, embracing them and thanking them for their ongoing support.
Supporting album Neck Of The Woods, the Silversun Pickups went on with “The Pit” and “Dots And Dashes”, while exciting with fan favourites “Panic Switch” and “Lazy Eye”. Though their sound is far from original, they at least gave audiences a little more entertainment than their preceding act.
Overall, the night kind of went like the Hullabalooza episode of The Simpsons – average bands played averagely while most audiences swayed unenthusiastically from side to side.
The lack of overall consistency overshadowed what should have been a sequence of talented performances. The show wasn’t bad, but it surely wasn’t anything spectacular, and it wasn’t worth the seventy-five dollar ticket price.
I’d take the glossy, auto-tuned album version any day!
