170 Russell was gradually filling up as Slowly Slowly’s Ben Stewart strummed the first chords of ‘Deathproof’. Stewart has the kind of versatile voice that can gently serenade, or bellow and fill a room. Similarly, the band’s greatest strength is its ability to dynamically lift from solo guitar/vocal openings to massive explosive endings from song to song. Stewart’s lyrics were heartfelt, the harmonies were saccharine, and the drums were enormous and driving. We were treated to a virtual greatest hits set of tracks like ‘Go Easy’, ‘Aliens’ and crowd favourite ‘New York, Paris’.
Something For Kate are at a point in their career where they can virtually do whatever they like and with this tour they’ve done just that. Rather than do another ‘X Year Anniversary’ tour like so many other bands have, they’ve chosen to simply revisit their first album and revive some obscure songs for no one else’s sake but their own. And it was so refreshing to see.
The band kicked things off with (almost) the first half of their debut album ‘Elsewhere For 8 Minutes’ – ‘Anarchitect’ into ‘Pinstripe’ into ‘Captain (Million Miles An Hour) into ‘Prick’ – before working their way into tracks off their later records like ‘Cigarettes & Suitcases’, ‘Survival Expert’, ‘Anchorman’, ‘Star-Crossed Citizens’ and ‘The Kids Will Get Their Money’. The stage was adorned with Edison bulbs and a multitude of LED lights giving the feeling of being in a lounge room at an early SFK house show.
Frontman Paul Dempsey teased a new album being in the works before playing a couple of songs solo with his acoustic guitar – “obscure” song ‘Chapel St, etc’ and ‘Feeding the Birds and Hoping for Something in Return’ off their third-album ‘Echolalia’.
The band returned and after a rendition of Happy Birthday for drummer Clint Hyndman, we were treated to a cover of Hüsker Dü’s ‘Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely’ and hugely popular ‘Elecricity’. After a short break, the band rounded out the night with breakthrough hit ‘Monsters’ and the closing tracks from ‘Elsewhere…’ – ‘Like Bankrobbers’ and ‘The Last Minute’.
Clearly, the band has missed playing a lot of the songs on this setlist and absolutely relished the opportunity to work them back into the set. Here’s to the next 20 years.
Hightlight: SFK covering Hüsker Dü.
Lowlight: Nothing.
Crowd favourite: ‘Monsters’.
