PAUL DEMPSEY - The Corner Hotel, Richmond 8/10/2010

Written by Matthew Hallett
Photos by Timothy Casten
                                                        

After spending some time in the US, writing and gigging, Paul Dempsey was welcomed home to an enthusiastic crowd at the Corner Hotel. The show sold out within weeks of going on sale, with patrons clustered together as far and wide as the walls could withhold. Dempsey was greeted by a warm reception upon taking to the stage, a reception that would only get warmer as the night carried on.

The setting was intimate and raw, with Paul using only an acoustic guitar and his captivating voice to showcase his talent and tell stories through song. The atmosphere was almost that of a friend’s party. There was a sense of familiarity and there were no barriers whatsoever between Dempsey on stage and the punters in the audience, with Dempsey regularly making conversation and banter.


There were quite a few hecklers but their comments were either praise or just silly jokes, again making it feel as if it were a mate’s party or something. Dempsey dealt with the hecklers well, often cracking jokes, but then his ability to go from joking and having everybody laughing, to a serious, pensive song within seconds and have the whole crowd captivated so that you could hear a pin drop was sheer brilliance.

Dempsey played all but one song from his solo album ‘Everything is True’, with highlights including Bird in a Basement, Perfectly Numb, Bats and Ramona was a Waitress. It was great to hear these songs in their rawest forms, no doubt bringing the songs back to how they were first conceived – just a guitar and voice. Other highlights included seeing support act Mike Noga (the Drones) play harmonica and sing with Dempsey on Man of the Moment as well as Dempsey doing a cover of MGMT’s Time to Pretend which was well-received by the crowd.

The cheers after each song seemed to become progressively louder as the night went on. Paul played a couple of new songs including We’ll Never Work In This Town Again as well as a brand new track written in the US (could possibly end up on the next SFK album which is a work in progress). Of course there were some Something for Kate songs in the mix such as Kaplan/Thornhill, Asleep at the Wheel, and The Last Minute, and with no setlist Dempsey just played whatever he chose in whatever order.

After one encore Dempsey came back for a second, urging that he is not the ‘former’ Something for Kate frontman and the band is very much still alive and kicking. With this he closed with a stirring rendition of Beautiful Sharks, much to the delight of the crowd who showed Dempsey warmth, love and support throughout the whole night, which Dempsey seemed truly grateful for, and truly grateful to be home.    

  

Saskia Sansom

Mike Noga

SILVERSUN PICKUPS - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne 28/09/2010

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.