Dandy Warhols
Luna Park
Sydney, AUS
November 4, 2016
“Detached garage rock cool with effervescent pop melodies” sounds like a pretty astute description of the Dandy Warhols’ sound.
Touring Australia on the back of their recently released album Distortland, the set list did not only include next songs of the aforementioned emission but also the crowd pleasers from the 1990s and the odd deep cut from their eight album catalogue.
What makes the Dandy Warhols a pleasant experience to see in the third dimension is that their most simple, repetitive tunes blossom and bloom in the spaced-out, hazy live environment they create with minimal distraction from the vibes they emit.
If you have lost them out of your sights since their chart topping days and major TV advertising for a British multinational telecommunications company, it was an evening that reinforced that the band has continued to write and release quality music, with an added quality of middle age angst and the ambiguity of going after yet having benefited from the bourgeoisie in equal measures, not excluding themselves from judgment.
The set not being executed flawlessly added charm to the band effortlessly weaving their tapestry from melancholical love songs to upbeat material from their heyday in the late 1990s and 00s.
Taylor-Taylor’s reverb laden, moody and often hushed trademark vocals shine not only when one of their hits “Every day should be a holiday” is stripped down to a solo effort only accompanied by his wailing guitar. Big rock gesture is not his thing and revving up the willing crowd is almost entirely shouldered Zia McCabe with her metronomic tambourine bashing.
Playing as many songs from their new and recent albums as their tried and tested hits, the gig cemented Dandy Warhols’ status as a highly consistent band that has created its own only while avoiding to become its own tribute band.
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Photos by KAVV
