After their recent tour cancellation in April due to drummer Simon Scott's back injury, there has fortunately only been a relatively short-term turnaround for Slowdive to return – five years since their last appearance at Laneway Festival.
Initially, the support performance by Andrew Tuttle appears to be incongruous with Slowdive especially given the rising audience chatter.However, after a slow start Andrew does win over portions of the audience with what might be described as meditative banjo ambience that gradually draws you in along with the suburban visual accompaniment.
Slowdive commence their set appropriately with 'Slomo' – the echoing guitar pinging will always be considered as the return of the band, given that it opens their belated 2017 self-titled album, 22 years after their 1995 record 'Pygmalion', following an extended hiatus during their reconfiguration as Mojave 3.
After this contemporary introduction, the first half of the set continues with mostly chronologically material from their beginnings, the early promise of their debut EP (the songs released were reportedly actual demos) represented by 'Slowdive' and 'Avalyn', the slow-building atmospherics of these near-instrumentals a blueprint for many who have followed in their wake.
Rachel Goswell on vocals and keys to this point remains mostly the focal point, evoking Cruella de Vil, while off to the right a nondescript Neil Halstead sports his latter day trucker look, dressed perhaps as casually and comfortably as he possibly could be, a physical manifestation of his laid-back vocal style, far from how he looked on the cover of the 'Souvlaki' album.
'Catch The Breeze', the only song to represent their first album 'Just For A Day', starts slowly but then nearly explodes, the accompanying disorientating visuals heightening the experience as the song transforms into a maelstrom of distortion before winding down.
From the self-titled album, 'Star Roving' is a contrast to the earlier songs with Simon contributing a funky drummer beat giving the song a greater feeling of momentum over the usual droning backing.
There is a return to the chronology of their earlier incarnation with a performance of 'Souvlaki Space Station', a song which at the time it came out somewhat preempted the emergence of trip-hop and indicated the band's willingness to transcend their beginnings and original sound.
The oft overlooked but latterly reappraised 'Pygmalion', their fourth and final album before they reconvened in 2014 is represented by 'Crazy For You' and then 'Blue Skied An' Clear'; this first half of the set a primer for the initiated, although it is doubtful there are many in the audience assembled who have not explored Slowdive's back catalogue.
Following on from the well-received 'Sugar For the Pill' and 'Alison' (although marred by the limitations of the echoing cavern of the Hindley Street Music Hall), 'When The Sun Hits' is the highlight of the evening.
Nick Chaplin on bass propelling the song forward as it gradually builds, with the audience singing along it becomes in this context an uplifting anthem.
Lost classic 'Sleep' is the earliest song performed tonight, originally released by guitarist Christian Savill's pre-Slowdive band Eternal it was repurposed with new lyrics by Rachel and had been demoed in consideration for their second album 'Souvlaki'.
This is followed by a teaser for the upcoming album 'Kisses', which has a different sound for the band and sounds like a cover of late New Order.
Rachel announces: "This is our last song," but then silently mouths "maybe" before an extended 'Golden Hair', a cover of a Syd Barrett song they have made their own.
Rachel sings the first part of the song then leaves the stage for the rest of the band to play out the longer second half, the stage bathed in a hellish red glow during this melancholy instrumental.
For an encore, Neil plays and sings an almost solo 'Dagger' although with spare accompaniment by the band, a respite from the post-rock feedback that preceded it before '40 Days' closes the set.
It has been 30 years since the release of their landmark 'Souvlaki' album and the wait to see Slowdive live has been longer for some than others, but this performance demonstrates that although the band may have lost favour latterly in the '90s they definitely have an audience now.
