Written by Kim Larkin
Photo by Timothy Casten
Being far less aquatinted to Silversun Pickups that I should have been, considering I was going to see them play live and everyone hates the fan that doesn’t really know the band, did leave me apprehensive of what I was expecting to see. I knew Lazy eye, and I knew it was at the Corner, (although stereotypical) of my favourite venues, so I thought I knew enough to sufficiently enjoy it. And I was right. Their first tour in Australia for three years, Silversun Pickups centered the ‘slightly-larger-than-the-other-one’ stage and began their extended set. Kicking off the intimate gig, frontman Brian Aubert lost all timidness after his first reverberating riff, which consumed and bewitched the crowd. The showmanship of Aubert, really the main performer, was an odd mixture of consideration and respect for the crowd, and the ability to walk alongside the stage while strumming like mad, occasionally reaching out for hands to hold and shake. The crowd, already energised from supporting band Papa vs Pretty, were utterly taken by Aubert, the only heckles and shouts being ones of love and admiration (and football finals), to which were not just well received, but were responded to as conversations between band and fan arose.
What can I say? The set was solid. Silversun pickups were professionals and were no suffers of stage fright. It had the same feeling of seeing your friends band play at a gig, expect your mates didn’t have a sold out show and weren't from the US. All those years of the ‘pickups playing in their garage has completely paid off as hearing them live was just like hearing Swoon through super surround sound. The occasional difference being the extended guitar solos, which often led to spontaneous pedal play by Aubert.
The one fault of the night had to be the overuse of distortion. It was like a boiling kettle right next to your head inbetween songs. At first I presumed it was possibly a failure on the sound man’s part, but that was naive of me. It was very apparent that the band chose to manipulate the distortions, and the ringing of the ears became the main souvenir of the night. Not the t-shirt.
But that can be overlooked, because when the room wasn’t swirling in high-pitched, high-voltage, electric squealing, the music was energetic and together and Silversun Pickups made you forget that prior to Lazy Eye (the obvious crowd favourite) blowing your mind, you head was about to implode.
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