The Drones, Witch Hats, Hits
The Hi Fi, Brisbane,
Wednesday 29th April 2009

There’s not often as much excitement about the actual venue as there is about the band gracing it, but tonight marks the opening of the Brisbane chapter of The Hi Fi, the first new mid-level venue to open in these parts for some time. Launching the occasion is a free gig from none other than The Drones, one of the best live acts in the country and a band who would surely have sold out the 1200 capacity room on their own without tonight’s accompanying hype.

With the recent closure of the similarly-sized Arena to make way for a much needed R&B club (cough) The Hi Fi’s timing is perfect, filling a gap recently left in an already fairly barren market. Bar an exposed brick wall running the length of one side and a grungy, low hanging ventilation system, there’s little in The Hi Fi’s interior design that suggests it’s a live music venue. Largely keeping to a monochromatic, metal-grey palette with fancy wall lights and cross-hatched painting styles, you’d be forgiven for thinking it a trendy nightclub, were it not for the large stage at the front replete with velvet blue curtains. Even if the indie kids slowly filtering in do take issue with the décor they're unlikely to complain about the tiered standing area that provides consistently great views throughout the entire lower level.

First band on are competition winner’s Hits who espouse the drunker, bawdier side of rock. If The Drones are the thinking man’s rock band then Hits are the evil twin that was dropped on its head. Whilst I personally didn’t listen to all two hundred entrants in the competition, it’s hard to imagine these guys were actually the best. The anticipation of a new venue and late start means they’re playing to a fairly packed out room but this only makes the lack of engagement on the audience’s part more obvious. The lead singer has quite a howl on him and some might find his strut and shake charismatic but it largely just evokes cringes. Still, their energy and study of rock’n’roll theatrics is to be commended and I’m sure it was time well spent for the small group of people at the front seemingly appreciating the performance. For others, it was a set twice as long as should’ve been be and starting an hour later than it deserved.

The curtains close as they walk off, a nice touch. From behind we hear Witch Hats sound checking, the anticipation for which manages to overwrite the annoyance and general nausea that the openers instilled. I’ve been meaning to see Witch Hats for some time and was fairly excited to see how they’d go tonight on a larger stage. Initially sounding a bit too much like aural sandpaper (which isn’t too out of place in their set anyway), the mix is fixed up quickly, revealing a more tangible thrust to their distorted post-punk. It’s loose and spiky with the bass line almost invariably playing a wet, distorted groove that gets the heads bobbing. They play with the ferocity and desperation of a band trying to avoid sinking into quicksand. Looking on from behind the stage, Drones sticksman Mike Noga seems as visibly appreciative of their short, tight set as the crowd. Ending with frontman Kris Buscombe grinding his guitar against his arse, it was a brief but potent appearance that injected energy into a night that seemed close to slipping into disappointment.

After a lengthy wait, the curtain opens on Melbourne’s The Drones. Guitarist Dan Luscombe greets the crowd with, “it’s good to be back at The Hi Fi – that’s a joke.” Thanks Dan. It’s actually hard for me to review The Drones since tonight marks the eighth or ninth time I’ve seen them over the past three years. Nonetheless, the fact that I’m still shocked at their intensity says more about their consistency and calibre than I could’ve expected that first time back in 06. Opening with Havilah’s ‘Nail It Down’ – the song least likely to be played to a metronome ever – the band turn out a performance capturing a large cross-section of their dynamics, with more melodic and sparse verses clashing with louder, distorted instrumental passages.

The Drones have mastered their garage-blue-punk blend with the occasional acoustic part vs sonic freakout – for the uninitiated, they’re definitely more Bad Seeds than the Living End. Garreth Liddiard plucks his guitar like he’s trying to pull the strings right off and rides his whammy bar just as hard. He sings like he’s trying to wrap his mouth around every vowel sound, occasionally yelping like a puppy being stood on or utilising a throatier shout as if summoning up a demon. His versatility and ability to be theatrical without overselling his delivery is enthralling and part of what makes this band so unique.

Recent Triple J staple ‘The Minotaur’ appears early in the set and elicits the largest response of the night, followed by the acoustic pairing of the darker, more intense ‘Locusts’ (possibly the best live version of this song I’ve yet witnessed) and the jauntier ‘Your Acting’s Like The End Of The World.’

Given that tonight tickets were allocated via a random lottery (bar three hundred set aside for The Drones fanclub), there’s on obvious disparity in the willingness to tolerate The Drones’s more abrasive moments and, while there’s still a decent crowd left at the end, there is noticeably more room to move. Liddiard jokes that this is their last gig ever due to intra-band tensions before relieving fears with an evil “sucked in!” They rarely lose the majority of the crowd’s attention. What little had waned over the past forty-five minutes was brought back with ‘Shark Fin Blues,’ one of my favourite Australian songs of all time. How The Drones manage to make it more dramatic every time is a mystery but the awe sweeping through the room is palpable as Liddiard and co drop down to the soft "Na Na Na" bridge before building back up. Way up.

After Gala Mill’s lead single ‘I Don’t Ever Want To Change’ closes out the main set, the band are ushered back on stage to the surprise of no one. Ending the night proper with The Miller’s Daughter, one of their darkest, most surging tracks that climaxes in a near uncontrolled crescendo, it’s a fitting end to another fantastic gig from The Drones and a highlight from a night that bodes well for Brisbane’s latest live music venue.

Matt Hickey

(Pics: Hamish Clift)