To kick off Splendour In The Grass festivities, Brisbane hosted one of two pre-parties at The Triffid last night (23 July), featuring The Dandy Warhols, Last Dinosaurs, Dune Rats and Circa Waves.
As with any night at The Triffid it starts with one of their signature Triffid Burgers and a beverage outside in the beer garden while waiting for doors to open. Greeted by Liverpool band, Circa Waves, who started the night with a bang, they started to a room of about 20 people. But by their second song, the room was quickly filling. By their fourth song, I doubt there was a space left. Although jetlagged, Circa Waves produced a high-energy set, which proved to be a strong and impressive start to the night. They included hits from their new album, ‘Young Chasers’, including ‘Fossils’, ‘T-shirt Weather’, ‘Get Away’ and more – performed effortlessly.
Following Circa Waves were Dune Rats. They were very pleased to be playing at home in Brisbane again. Dune Rats were definitely the contrasting performers of the night but were popular among the crowd. Extremely high-energy, I thought at some stage Brett Jansch (bass/ vocals) was definitely going to break his neck from excessive head banging. Frontman, Danny Beusa (guitar/ vocals) really embraced his crazy on stage with bulging eyes and even kicking the AV guy and spitting on the guitar tech. Although their set was nowhere near perfect and they experienced a brief technical issue with the lead guitar, their high spirits and energy was infectious. It was hard not to enjoy their set.
Photo's from Splendour In The Grass Pre-Party at The Triffid, Brisbane.
Last Dinosaurs took the stage after Dune Rats and performed a precise and polished set comprised of a mixture of songs, including ‘Zoom’, ‘Honolulu’, their new track ‘Evie’ as well as a standout cover medley of Spiller’s ‘Groovejet’ and Modjo’s ‘Lady’ that had everyone grooving along with them. Although their set was a somewhat subdued segment of the night, their talent displayed on stage held attention as they played intricate riffs and rhythms. Youthful and dedicated, these tidy hipsters have a lot to look forward to after their second album release this year.
At this point in the night the audience could wait no longer; it was time for The Dandy Warhols. You could feel the anticipation in the room as the crowd whistled at every false-alarm-roadie that walked on stage as they waited for The Dandys to make their appearance.
The Dandy Warhols started their set heavy and deep with opening track ‘Be In’ but brought out popular favourites ‘We Used To Be Friends’, ‘Get Off’, ‘The Last High’ and ‘Bohemian Like You’ later in the set which, surely enough, had the crowd hooked and going off. The Dandy Warhols are a band of moments. There were moments of reflection and surrealism, moments of depth and emotion, as well as plenty of moments of elation, fun and happiness all rolled into one, short set. With a collection of material that dates back to 1995, you can expect The Dandy Warhols to take you on a journey as they play snippets of their timeless catalogue.Courtney Taylor-Taylor (guitar/ vocals) sported his signature pigtails and said very little, other than thank you, throughout the set – but still managed to have the audience hanging off his every sung lyric. It was amazing to see how much these guys still enjoy doing what they’re doing. This was most evident on the face of drummer Brent DeBoer as he smiled his way through each track. Peter Holmstrom (guitar) performed flawlessly and pulled out the usual, too-cool rock star moves. For anyone that has seen The Dandy Warhols live before, not much more needs to be said about Zia McCabe (keys/ bass /percussion). But if you’re wondering – yes, she’s still got it!
The night may have ended abruptly and a little prematurely, but it definitely gave the audience a taste of what they might be seeing, or in some cases, missing out on, at Splendour this weekend.If the pre-party was any indication to what you might experience at Splendour In The Grass at Byron Bay, it’s bringing the goods!
