“If you see John Dwyer, tell him I want to marry him!” These were the words passed on to me as I shared the news with a workmate that I was heading off to catch Thee Oh Sees playing at Transit Bar on Monday night. At the time I had no idea who this guy was or what instrument he played, but by the end of the night I sure did.
As I rolled in at 8pm it was a cold, gloomy night and I figured that after the epic 3-day drinking fest that was Multi-Cultural Festival, no one would be showing their heads for a while…Mistake number one.
As the sun poked its head for the final time outside, opening act TV Colours were taking the stage inside. Even this early on in the night, the crowd swelled, glasses clinked, laughter filled the air and people were having a ball. Monday-itis had clearly loosened its grip on this lot – they’d come to rock out to some music and forget about the 4 days of agony that lay ahead of them. Just what kind of music I was in for I wasn’t sure of, but the plethora of high-waisted skirts, top-buttoned shirts and a suspicious number of people wearing similar looking spectacles, had me feeling like I’d suddenly stepped into a coffee shop on the urban streets of Melbourne.
TV Colours belted out tunes that drew heavy influence from The Horrors and the night’s main act. The crowd was kind to the 4-piece who were clearly more familiar with their instruments than any sort of fashion sense whatsoever. They were good though and surprisingly tight. The highlight for me was the vocal accompaniments in the choruses of most songs which really helped drive them and lift the hooks. I enjoyed it and the crowd applauded their set in appreciation.
Next up it was The Fighting League. Sh*t, where to begin? Ok, imagine Eminem if he was 25 years old and had a soggy beer gut – well that’s who was fronting this 5-piece band last night. As they launched into their rendition of what I can best describe as “indie rock”, whilst it was entertaining as hell, was also slightly disturbing.. Clearly out to make a point to be the” I-Don’t-Give-A-F*ck” front man, class clown, Dom took off his shirt after only two songs, was squeezing almost painfully at his crotch after three, and by the fourth was spitting into his hand and rubbing his face with it (I told you – creepy). Each song kind of muddled into the other, but like I said it was entertainment, and, if I had to have paid a few bucks to see them I would have, even just to watch how others reacted to it.
Finally it was the moment clearly everyone in the room had been hanging out for…Thee Oh Sees were up. After a few technical difficulties, it was all systems go. And by go I mean the crowd was GONE! TOS’s frenzied rock sent the crowd into a trance and the antics of the aforementioned John Dwyer, front man/guitarist, only added to the insanity. Chugging from his beer glass with no hands, squealing into the mic, flailing his guitar around savagely, only fuelled the crowds fire and thirst for more. I actually saw one guy crowd surfing and clip his head on the roof – that’s no easy feat!
I was utterly impressed equally by the tunes on display by TOS and the noises coming out of John Dwyer’s mouth. Each song was greeted with praise and every howl was met with acclaim. For every song that started, the audience seemed to be purely possessed, as John Dwyer created a spastic energy that filled the room and sent everyone surrounding him into hysteria. While the other members in the band performed well, and a mediocre drum solo had the crowd up in arms, the night was all about the tatted up John Dwyer.
The Oh Sees nailed it and to be honest, these are the best kinds of gigs to go to. The ones where you don’t go in expecting much, but walk away seeing some entertaining (if not at times disturbing) performances, and especially being impressed enough to talk the band up the next day around the water cooler. Check them out, it’s different, it’s cool and it’s fun.
