It could be said that Dan Kelly is – to some extent – the Australian equivalent of Gruff Rhys: the acclaimed Melbourne-based singer-songwriter and the inimitable Welsh musician share a sense of humour that occasionally masks the seriousness of their art and remain removed from pretension while pursuing the less-traversed road of eccentric and often ambitious music. Consequently, a large gathering of fans had arrived for Kelly’s set despite the early Monday night support slot. The audience warmed immediately to his performance of A Classical DJ At Dandenong Station while Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam summoned the most enthused sing-along, as encouraged by Kelly’s unique gift in finding the refuge in humanity’s greatest afflictions. After a set of textured-pop accompanied by some backing tracks, a few thrilling guitar solos and warmly witty banter, the audience members were all in high spirits.
Although we all love Gruff Rhys’ solo work (particularly his third solo album, Hotel Shampoo), there’s no denying that tonight was an intimate gathering of Super Furry Animals fans. After all, it’s been eight years since the frontman of the amazing, boundary-pushing Welsh quintet last toured Australia. While Rhys’ latest solo album, Hotel Shampoo, is a wonderfully-crafted alt-pop record, it’s a rawer and deliberately purer/simpler composition compared to those of his band. Moreover, performing Hotel Shampoo without the accompanying musicians that have joined him in the UK meant that significant changes were made to song arrangements and instrumentation. In the dexterous hands of Rhys, though, the set was chaotically magical and incessantly entertaining.
The most apparent change to the recorded version of Hotel Shampoo was that Rhys had to perform most of the piano melodies on acoustic guitar (a monumental shift considering that it’s a piano-based album). Even so, Rhys impressed with these new interpretations – the trumpets that adorn the superb Sensations In The Dark were replaced with harmonica, while a table of numerous percussive and electronic instruments were laid out in front of him (Trevor the metronome, drum sticks with flashing lights, glow-in-the-dark mini keyboard, turntable, a disc of various bird noises… why not?).
It was impressive seeing Rhys grapple with the immense challenges of performing multi-faceted songs on his lonesome. Even with the constraints of performing solo, he was able to inject the set with varying tones and styles. Whether it was the trippy loops, samples and eerie electronica of his searing psychedelia or the comforting strains of his majestic pop sensibilities, the set was variety and melodic eccentricity at its finest. Rhys also had several placards designed for the performance including the title of one of Hotel Shampoo‘s politically-inclined tracks – Conservation Conversation – and the hilarious “Applause” placard.
Rhys performed several tracks from his second solo album, Candylion, including its title track, Lonesome Words,Cycle Of Violence and Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru (Driving), but most memorable were the highlights from Hotel Shampoo, including Sensations In The Dark, Shark Ridden Waters and If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme). Tonight’s intimate gig was a special showcase for Rhys’ devoted fans – the SFA mastermind is an extremely likeable individual who happens to create consistently intriguing and unconventional tunes. Additionally, his dry humour is brilliant. The highlight of Rhys’ witty banter was his proclamation of “Oh, very big news today … (we all assumed that he was referring to Osama bin Laden’s death) … Cardiff City are playing Middlesbrough,” he remarked dryly. We all laughed uproariously; as always, his delivery is impeccable. Osama and football aside, Gruff Rhys was in town … and that, dear folks, is news in itself.
Loved: Witnessing Gruff’s unique and crazy view of art and life.
Hated: The fact that a couple of six-foot tall individuals were standingat the very front.
Drank: Beer.
