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The Dissociatives + Little Birdy, The Presets Thebarton Theatre, Mon 14 June 
Walking into the Thebby on what Daniel Johns would later call "a horrible, horrible excuse for a winter night" with a ticket to see The Dissociatives, I must freely admit that I had no idea what to expect. As a keen fan of their album I had high hopes but wondered just how well it would all translate into the live arena. As it turns out, I needn't have worried at all.The Presets, playing first, assumed that playing on the same bill as a band that dabbles frequently in electronic effects meant that they had free licence to play a short set of repetitive techno beats with above-average if similarly repetitive vocals. Perhaps the best thing about The Presets was that they increased my eagerness to witness the up-and-coming brilliance that is Little Bird, who kicked things off nicely with Too Bad and ploughed, pitch-perfect, through the contents of both the 'Relapse' and 'This Is A Love Song' EPs. The titular songs went down best of all but through the set one thing struck me: Katy Steele has begun to develop a stage presence that promises bigger and better things to come. She handled the audience superbly and even treated them to two new songs - hopefully soon to come to a CD near you. As good as Little Birdy were though, the show The Dissociatives put on was something else. All the quirkiness of their debut album was present but stripped back to its basics. Electric guitars, drums, piano and intermittently functional effects boxes were the order of the night; the album's somewhat laid-back vibe was absent, but in its place was such a compellingly energetic presence that it hardly mattered. Daniel Johns almost seemed to be going through the motions at the beginning of the set, launching into the first three songs of the set in the exact order of the album and remaining utterly silent in between. However, after his intriguing performance of Lifting The Veil From The Braille (a song whose 'lyrics' consist almost entirely of a happy whistle, carried off surprisingly well live!), Johns and Mac opened up to the audience. All the oddities audiences had come to expect from Johns' performances with Silverchair began to emerge but in a somewhat more light-hearted manner. Indeed, Johns became so excited at one point of the show that he gleefully threw his beloved beanie into the crowd, only to ruefully ask for it back five minutes later, offering by way of apology that "it goes with a lot of outfits." The rest of the album was eventually played in exact order - but that was the only thing predictable about proceedings. Two new and intriguing songs made their debut, showing a darker side to the dissociative duo - one in particular sounding like 'Neon Ballroom'-era Silverchair on acid. Somewhere Down The Barrel and Young Man/Old Man became fast-paced sing-along rock numbers with the occasional vocal curve-ball thrown by Johns. What could only have been a number from Johns and Mac's original collaborative efforts, 'I Can't Believe It's Not Rock' found its way into the encore, as did, believe it or not, a cover of The Fauves' Dogs Are The Best People. And people danced, cheered and absorbed it all with an unnatural amount of glee. It seems that no matter how new and different The Dissociatives are, there's a large audience out there ready and willing to embrace them; after seeing shows like the one I did, it's no surprise at all. Johns and Mac obviously enjoyed themselves, and the enthusiasm was infectious. Easily one of the best shows I've seen in the last couple of years.  |
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