Support act for last night's Polish Club Brisbane Festival show (25 September), Asha Jefferies is Captain Understated: simplicity well-executed, in a 19-year-old shoegazing onesie behind the wheel (strings) of a Mustang.
Then came the sandwiches. “Thanks for coming out here during dinner time,” Dave Novak, guitarist/ main sledger of Polish Club, says. Drummer and back-up self-deprecator, John kindly mentions the vegetarian sandwich selection that’s backstage if the ones in the platter he’s displaying are not for you.
They take the liberty of the ‘in-the-round’ set-up to face each other. “I’m so sorry,” Dave points to the people behind him apologetically, “to this group of people. But I’ll turn around at some point.”
Polish Club - image © Bec Reid
‘Come Party’ appropriately ignites the burner and now we’re cooking with gas. “For this weird set-up, we’re gonna play a pretty weird set,” John says, probably more than once.
Click here for more photos from the show.
It feels like we’re watching from backstage a lot of the time, and ticket numbers were restricted so there’s a great (certainly effective) view from everywhere.
The closeness is surprising to both sides: Dave quips how normally we can’t hear everything he says, which is usually very incriminating. “I feel like we have to add on an extra song for every disaster.”
Polish Club - image © Bec Reid
The set list was written on a Keep Cup, in keeping with the round theme of the square stage. They resurrect a song that was never meant to see the light of day, but argue it’s a Tuesday night, so it might be appropriate. It’s actually alright.
Seeing them the first time at The Riverstage supporting Royal Blood, I thought they must have been having a bit of an off night and that we wouldn’t have noticed so much of the disarray had it not been persistently pointed out.
Click here to read our recent interview with Polish Club.
Now I get it, that taking the piss out of themselves is their thing. It just seems pretty weird with Dave’s Yank-ish accent, but more familiar when John chimes in.
They cover Sugababes and The Saints, and it feels like having them play in your very own garage, complete with some kind of stuck ferret sound from the kick drum.
Polish Club - image © Bec Reid
“I hope you saw all the angles you wanted to see,” Dave says. John borrows back his sticks from the recipient punters for an extra last song: ‘How To Be Alone’.
But we’re not alone, it all felt so cosy. You brought sangers and everything: Dave, was it just a lie?
Yep, we won’t get to party with these boys again till they’re back from their UK/ Europe tour starting in October.
