Itʼs a Wednesday evening, and upstairs at the Corner Hotel itʼs Trivia Night. After a sunny spring afternoon the temperature has dropped, and a full moon hanging in a clear night sky peaks a jaundiced look over the beer garden wall. Downstairs, the doors are open for the first of The Dronesʼ three Melbourne shows. Joined tonight by Ron S. Peno And The Superstitions, currently The Drones are on a national tour celebrating the launch of their live DVD, A Thousand Mistakes.
Ron S. Peno, formerly of seminal Australian band Died Pretty, hasnʼt slowed down in thirty years of music. Renowned for his energy and spontaneity as a front man, as the room slowly fills he jumps around the stage with frantic abandon. He is backed capably by his Superstitions, guitarist Cam Butler, of art-rock act Silver Ray, bass player Andy Papadopoulis, Tim Deane on keys and guitar, and drummer Mark Dawson. They craft rock and roll pop songs that are a creation of the sum of their parts, the reverb-drenched guitar of Butler and Peno’s howling croon calling to mind other iconic Australian artists like Brian Henry Hooper.
Clearly though, tonight is all about The Drones. After selling out their first show at The Corner in a matter of days two more were announced, and the full house tonight attests to their popularity as a band. Five studio albums in and now with a live DVD, the curtains part as The Drones saunter onstage to applause from the packed-in crowd. Opening track “The Best You Can Believe In” kicks straight into the set, the slower, more ambient elements of the song punctuating singer Gareth Liddiard’s half-croaked, half spat vocals. He swaps his electric guitar for an acoustic for the next song, “Locust”, also off of their acclaimed 2005 album Wait Long By The River And The Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By.
Liddiard is clearly the focal point of the group, his mop of brown hair flailing wildly as he stamps across the stage with an air of controlled violence. Framed either side by bass player Fiona Kitchin and Dan Luscombe on guitar, their backing vocals soften Liddiard’s mouth-full-of-cotton-wool growl. “Minotaur”, off of their 2008 album Havilah, is a stand out, the manic guitar riff working around Mike Noga’s impeccable drumming. The Drones are joined by keyboard player Steve Hesketh, who contributed to their albums The Miller’s Daughter and Wait Long By The River… , adding an atmospheric intensity throughout the set tonight. The pace winds down after “Jezebel” as they start “Cold and Sober”, Liddiard shedding some of his ferocity to transform into a kind of bushranger Leonard Cohen.
“Sitting On The Edge Of The Bed Crying” jumps along to a kick drum beat, the bluesier number getting the audience moving. A powerful rendition of Kev Carmody’s “River of Tears” is a highlight in the set, the troubadour’s tale of violence and “a sad river of tears, two hundred years” starts out menacingly, slowly building to a crescendo, drumbeats falling like sledgehammers on expensive crystal. Liddiard, Kitchin and Luscombe’s vocal harmonies lend the narrative a haunting intensity. Even on their slower songs, it’s impossible to forget what a heavy band The Drones can be.
This is followed by crowd favourite “I Don’t Ever Want To Change”, with plenty of people dancing to the jangly guitar riff and rock and roll drum beat, and singing along to the chorus. As they finish their set Liddiard drops to the floor, hunched over his pedals, playing with the dials before leaving his guitar feeding back as they walk off stage. The monotonous hum left coming from the speakers could possibly at hint at how they came up with their band name.
After a sustained round of applause, Liddiard is back on stage toting an acoustic guitar in place of his electric, starting off on “Sixteen Straws”. He’s joined by Mike Noga playing harmonica, captivating the audience with his pared-back tale of colonial brutality, before the rest of the band return to play the title track from 2005’s The Miller’s Daughter. Kitchin’s bass is right at the forefront as the rest of the band slowly come in around the repetitive riff. Luscombe’s guitar playing shows plenty of swagger around Liddiard’s half-barked delivery, Noga’s drumming is as tight as it has been all night. As the set closes amid cymbal crashes and that single repeating bass riff, Liddiard’s once again down on the ground twisting the myriad dials on his guitar pedals, coaxing as many strange noises out of his guitar as he can, before the lights go out amid resounding applause, and The Drones are done for the evening. No doubt the next two nights of sold-out shows at The Corner will be equally impressive, with a band rightly deserved of their reputation as a live act and as innovative musicians.
-Shaun Thatcher
