The flash in the pan, triple j garage bands tend to produce a barely legal crowd, literally bouncing with enthusiasm. Their squealing and conversations purely made up of acronyms liable to wear the well-travelled gig goer down. Thankfully Black Lips enduring career has seen them amass a cult following that boasts people of varying age groups, sub cultures and musical tastes.
Solid support band choices saw the punters arrive early and immediately occupy the no go zone. Pioneering the retro resurgence for a few years now, The Frowning Clouds were first up; with their ’60s inspired garage pop. Flaunting three very capable lead singers – vocal harmonies were bountiful and the Clouds found their pace, locked it in and rode that one mood for the whole set.
Notorious for their ‘hit or miss’ live shows, Circle Pit proved to be very ‘on’ tonight, offering up a set of ’70s psych style rock‘n’roll with nods to grunge and delivered with a punk aesthetic. The broad spectrum of influences in Circle Pit’s sound makes this band completely engaging and the crowd dug it, but was starting to champ at the bit for the main event.
Black Lips have an endless bag of killer hits, from which to produce a set and tonight each one was causing the crowd to erupt into fits of hysterical dancing. Family Tree started the first real commotion, and there was no respite for even the slower ’50s doo-wop of Dirty Hands. Numbers from Arabia Mountain were just as well received as the classics, with Modern Art seeing the dancing extend all the way to sidelines.
Some individuals chose to take their enjoyment to the extreme at the expense of others, and a catfight erupted 3/4 of the way through the Lips set, complete with choking and clawing. Mosh pit karma folks, if you choose to ignore the etiquette and elbow someone in the face more than five times, they may just try to strangle the life out of you.
With only a few short breaks to scull some tinnies, Black Lips energetic set seemed to draw to a close all too soon. The crowd had been blurring the lines between stage and pit all night, but when the chords of Bad Kids struck, 20 or so die hard fans rushed the stage and proceeded to get their boogie on. To make up for their lack of elevation, everyone on the ground shook their moneymakers even harder. Surely there couldn’t be an encore, this reviewer thought as the song drew to an epic close. Apparently there was and it was mental. Damn school nights. School night or not, Black Lips sure know how to party.
BY KRYSTAL MAYNARD
LOVED: Avoiding a stray hit from the catfight.
HATED: Not realising the band was going to do an encore and leaving before it.
DRANK: Assorted alcoholic beverages.
