Live Review: The Dandy Warhols (for The Music Network)

30 May 2011

by Poppy Reid

Sunday May 2
Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW 

A squinty-eyed adolescent was apparently already “greening out” before The Dandy Warhols had even made it onto the Enmore Theatre stage last night.

Touted as one of the most enduring psych-rock bands of all time, the Oregon four-piece showed us why over an almost two hour set. It may have taken them a few tracks like Mohammed, Solid and We Used To Be Friends to warm up to us, but the crowd had their arms open and beers up on offer from the get go.

Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor began the band’s breakout track,Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth looking vulnerable and poised with his legs squeezed together and his guitar resting upon his hip. As effeminate as that may describe him, Taylor-Taylor exudes sex, his refrained voice soon turned sour with a silky grit that wavered across light and shade throughout the 27-track performance.

:: Check out the live shots from the night here.

After taking an iPhone picture of his view, Taylor-Taylor said, “Thanks you guys; I'm just gonna go ahead and turn that all the way off now.” Most ignored the hint, kept uploading to their various social media sites and shouted requests. The singer listened and seared into Cool As Kim Deal.

Almost as if the request was a bargain, the band then introduced the synth-heavy new track, Rest Your Head which will feature on their February 2012 release, This Machine.

Keyboardist, Zia McCabe was enchanting throughout, from her haunting whispers that introduced I Love You, to her slow tambourine taps that juxtaposed the manic strobe lights.

There were many highlight tracks, like Lou Weed where guitarist Peter Holmström played his strings with a violin bow and Taylor-Taylor confessed his love for the smell of marijuana emanating from the crowd; or All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey where the singer held his guitar up millimeters from a massive amp before swinging into a meaty but fleeting solo; or even during Fast Driving Rave-Upwhere three members of The Vines joined them on stage. But it wasLegend Of The Last Outlaw Truckers which impacted the most.

Perhaps because the band looked the most green in that moment; they interacted with a knowing excitement and played their instruments with the kind of fervency that comes when you know you’re onto something great.

“Okay, calm down,” said Taylor-Taylor once it was over.

In final track Country Leaver he sang, “I hope when I see you that you’ll still like who I am.” If after almost 17 years The Dandy Warhols can still pull a crowd as manic as Enmore Theatre’s with as many lifers for fans, then they can be certain we’ll all be back to hear the new record, and its successor… etc. etc.