The Silents/Mt Mountain/Pat Chow
The Rosemount Hotel
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Pat Chow started off proceedings with a grungy set full of hard energetic screams from vocalist Ben Protasiewicz. This solid sounding three piece had a distinctive ‘90s North West American rock feeling about them that oozed melodic distortion and drive.
Mt Mountain are a group of skateboarding enthusiasts who had a street-style look that had little correlation to their slow ebbing musical sound. The amplifiers raged long drawn out sustained tones, over which lead vocalist Steve Bailey’s droning tones embedded deeply with the swelling synths that flanged and rolled like tunes from Slowdive or Spaceman 3. Detuned vocals mixed with the simple three chorded verses and slow building chorus song structures that created a trippy feeling of echoic mystic proportions.
Steeping up the tempo and volume and sounding more like a traditional melody-driven band, The Silents blended a set full of blaring guitar strings and bass punch. Wearing all black attire, front man Lloyd Stowe led the band through their set of discordant, organ-droned rock with ease. Stowe’s vocals displayed an emotive fragility that combined well with the chaotic melodic trip the band’s style shaped. The Silents had a post-punk revival sense about them and they performed a compelling live show that maybe was over the heads of the punters onboard tonight.
The touring band with a name you just can’t forget in a hurry, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, had the stage jam packed with a lineup of seven, including two drummers, three guitars, bass, vocals and somehow some keys also. Starting off their set with a new song, I’m In Your Mind, The Gizzards (or Wizards?) immediately set the stage alight and the room went off like someone had set the floor on fire. Intensive three guitar harmonies, harmonica blues riffs and vocals that had a vox-box type of effect that rendered singer Stu Mackenzie sounding like he was in a tunnel, took the beginning of their hour and a half set to extreme heights of energised, on-beat sonic action.
Hot Wax was the first of only three numbers taken from the new album, with the remainder being new unreleased tracks or from the Willoughby’s Beach EP or Float Along – Fill Your Lungs album. Each song filled the room with tight rhythms from the drumming duo, while simple-chorded intensity and organ-tastic tones created an epic feeling with hint of 1960s-style grooving.
The set had the audience clearly losing themselves whether they were up close to the stage in the mosh pit or standing back in the shadowy corners of the Rosemount. Either way, the Gizzards excelled at producing an entertaining dynamic set of retro textures, ear-piercing feedback and sonically rich lead guitar tones of messy, irresistible, musical delight.
MICHAEL CAVES
