Performing support duties tonight, Kirin J Callinan made his third Melbourne appearance of 2012. He must be a real cunt to work with or something, as each respective appearance has featured an entirely different backing band. After an elongated showcase of his wonderfully stunted banter, Kirin played his haunting paedophile-as-protagonist ballad Thighs in solo mode, with each sudden burst of guitar providing a startling jolt to the slightly bemused crowd gathered at the foot of the stage. Amongst that crowd was Chris Taylor, multi-instrumentalist for the headline act, who signed Kirin for a US deal through his own Terrible Records. After Thighs, Kirin welcomed onstage his band for the evening. They were very excellent, loosely complementing Mr Callinan’s role as teeth-gnashing loop-conductor. The set-closing rendition of W II W was a far-removed misfire from the studio original of one of the best tracks of the year. The sparse arrangement was stripped of the usual strobe-accompaniment, and fell well short with Evelyn Morris (of Pikelet, and also quite possibly the best drummer in Melbourne) making way on the kit for Super Wild Horses’ Amy Franz. The rudimentary kick-snare beat was an overwhelming distraction, if nothing else. Still, the bold experimentation works for the most part. Question is whether Kirin can resolve the creative dissonance before releasing his debut full-length next year? Or, do we even want him to?
Billboard is a decidedly undersized venue for a band with the stature as Grizzly Bear. It also used to be a strip club. That historical factoid was threaded throughout the night by co-lead singer Ed Droste. Kirin earlier got his kit off, as he is prone to do. Supplementary touring keyboardist Aaron Arntz became the second ever person to crowdsurf at a Grizzly Bear show, removing his shirt for a splendidly inappropriate stint above a sea of hands for the heartwrenching While You Wait For The Others. Then there was Ed groaning at his own shoehorned wordplay when describing the acoustic runthrough of All We Ask, the final song of the evening, as “stripped back”.
Tracks from latest LP Shields sounded fantastic in the live context. Grizzly Bear are tremendously adept at translating the aural splendour of their studio output onto the stage – Daniel Rossen’s vocals are invariably something to behold.
Two Weeks – the outfit’s biggest song – was too big for tonight’s intimate confines, but its placing in the setlist was optimal. Yellow House standout Knife was a dreamy opening to the encore.
Then there they were, the four core members of Grizzly Bear sharing a couple of microphones at centre stage, brandishing the breathtaking harmony coda of All We Ask – “I can’t get out of what I’m into with you.”
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
LOVED: The elusive balance of levity and emotional resonance.
HATED: The overly literal lighting triggers.
DRANK: Didn’t drink, but I ate some grapes.
