The title today is taken from Devil In Me from the album Watch Me Disappear (for all of the very publicly voiced dissatisfaction from some of the band and a lot of fans about the production on this album I do think a number of these songs will still be very listenable in five, ten, fifteen years time – yep I guess I just put a great big bullseye on myself – let the arrows start flying!!)
One of the things that has always drawn me to the band apart from the music of course is that they do not always say and do what would be conventionally expected of them. I imagine they can be a publicists nightmare at times however this results in interviews and gigs that expose their innermost thoughts and feelings, and to me this is a good thing.
For example, I think I can understand Glenn’s exasperation at yet another person screaming loudly for One Crowded Hour when he and the band have just played one of their beautifully crafted songs from their earlier albums or ep’s with minimal response from the audience….. but anyway I digress.
This is the belated write up for the second Hobart gig at Moorilla Estate on 8 August 2009. This was one of my favourite gigs this tour and I wanted to wait until I had the time to do this gig justice (damn that sounds pretentious but you know what I mean….I didn’t want to have to rush it)
Firstly though I have to say that I stayed at the most fabulous place. It was a motel literally ten minutes walk from Moorilla Estate and from my bed I looked out onto this view of the Derwent
and I was woken in the morning by this (and it’s friends) outside my door
my alarm clock
I went for a walk on the saturday and was caught in the rain walking back to the motel and my already pretty good day (I love the rain, even when I am caught in it without an umbrella) became perfect when I got to see a divine rainbow. Tasmania is such a scenic place.
My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky......
Okay enough of my holiday snaps…onto the gig…
Once again I was at a beautiful venue to see Augie March play and like the night before, people got there early to nab the comfy cushions and couches. I think it’s the big floor cushions scattered around the place that make it such a laid back venue.
Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe came onstage just after 8pm and played their 45 minute set. (Mike Noga was in the audience). Both Gareth and Dan were having a lot of fun on stage tonight. On stage Dan and Gareth seem so connected with Dan watching Gareth intently and seeming to take a lot of cues from him.
Gareth’s vocals during The Drifting Housewife were dripping with emotion and intensity. These two have been putting on amazing shows as the support and even when they seem a little ‘tired and emotional’ they still are fantastic.
Gareth Liddiard
Dan Luscombe - as he watches Gaz
The crowd once again were a bit frustrating, lots of talking during their set but overall they were more polite than the audience the night before.
Similar to the friday show, much of the audience was sitting on the floor in front of the stage before the band came on.
They were sitting much closer to the stage for tonight’s gig rather than leaving the big space in front of the stage as had happened the night before.
Augie March came on at 9.30pm and I was disappointed to note that the crowd remained sitting.
I have mentioned this before no doubt but I am loving how Hole In Your Roof as the opener morphs into Drowning Dream. Both songs sounded fantastic.
Ed
Gareth came out and sat right in front of the stage, in between Adam and Glenn’s line of sight and he and Mike Noga proceeded to heckle and attempt to distract those two as much as possible.
Adam (be quiet Gaz)
It was fun to watch and everyone had a laugh when Glenn spat out his drink over the two of them after Brundisium. Which by the way was earth shatteringly good tonight. The ending was superb and Dave in particular really helped to add power and drive to what is such a great song.
Glenn and Adam trying to ignore Gaz (without success)
Unfortunately there was a moment of extreme distress for me during Pennywhistle and I fear I may never recover from the trauma of this experience. I was (as usual) at the front of the stage balancing my notebook in one hand (since I have a memory like a sieve) and my camera in the other and I found that if I bent to the left while balancing on one leg and slightly crouching I could actually get some photos of Dave when he wasn’t hidden by his mic. I was lining up what I am pretty sure would have been an award winning photograph of him when my camera went blurry. I gave it a bit of a shake and then looked up to see a shoe (attached to a foot) being waved in front of the lens and Glenn looking down at me and grinning. I will see you in court Mr Richards!!!!
the right shoe is the culprit!!
Glenorchy Bunyip was another song that was belted out by the band and Matt Habben. Once again the band didn’t let us down with entertaining banter.
Glenn – we haven’t played this much as it is hard.
Dave – some things have to be hard to do it…… like penises
Dogsday sounded interesting ….. Glenn told us at the end of this song that Donno was playing in the wrong key and he deliberately kept going.
Dave during Dogsday
The acoustic Train with Glenn and Kiernan was able to reduce most of the crowd to silence which was wonderful.
Glenn and Kiernan during Traiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin (acoustic)
There were a number of comments from both bands during the night about having had a big night on friday and being hung over and I think this added to the relaxed feel coming from the stage. This was possibly also helped by gold such as Ed being late on stage for There Is No Such Place and apologising profusely when he did arrive for going into the ladies toilet by mistake.
Dave
Glenn’s introduction to Mothball was met with silence from the audience and when I belatedly started applauding (after having put down my camera and notebook) he thanked me.
Matt and Ken from the Arnold Horns during Train (whole band)
The mood during this gig was lighter and even though the audience feedback, especially during many of the older songs, was quite subdued it felt as if the band were having a good time on stage.
Glenn
This was an absolutely fantastic show
Posted by melbells 
