Reviewed onFriday November 4
The Dandy Warhols are currently touring their ninth album, Distortland – but you’d be forgiven if you weren’t quite up to speed with the band’s discography. Most of the crowd in Sydney on Friday seemed to be there for offerings from 2003’s Welcome To The Monkey House. Discerning readers will note that was over ten years ago and probably feel old as well.
Morning Harvey, hailing from Brisbane, opened the night with some inoffensive indie rock, some of which is probably familiar to triple j listeners. They’re undeniably a talented outfit, and certainly one to watch out for in the next couple of years.
The Dandies didn’t seem particularly concerned with whether to play or entirely avoid their hits, striking a good balance across their catalogue. Opening with ‘Be-In’ set up both the incredible density of their guitar noise and the insane strobe lights that would intermittently blind the audience for the rest of the show.
As an album, Distortland is complex and accomplished. The rendition of single ‘STYGGO’ encompassed its broody introspection, but like anything else from the Dandies at their best, it was full of energy live. It retained Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s iconic voice and deadpan delivery, but there was a new level of subtlety underlying it all.
Despite this, it was the band’s earlier offerings that got the crowd excited. The prophetic ‘Bohemian Like You’ still gets everyone moving – perhaps because its lyrics are more resonant than ever, perhaps just for a heavy dose of early noughties nostalgia.
We were informed early on that this show was being recorded for a live album. While that meant one song was interrupted by three false starts, and sound issues arose throughout the set, it also made the night feel somehow important. Plus, Taylor-Taylor made it a point that if there were any more fuck-ups during the set, they would just push through. And thanked the audience for their patience multiple times.
While the momentum slowed in the middle of their set – the main casualty being ‘You Were The Last High’ – by the time they got to ‘We Used To Be Friends’ all was forgiven.
A solid performance, and potentially the last time Australia will get to see the Dandies for a little while.
