Being big fans of Adelaide’s Bad//Dreems, we’ve probably said all there is to be said about Aussie rock four piece. They recently dropped their latest single ‘My Only Friend’ which our Tone Deaf writer called “a breath of fresh Bad//Dreems air, jam-packed with frustrated emotion and soothing sonics that’ll see you mashing the repeat button again and again and again.”
2014 has been a pretty stella year for the guys so far, slaying at BIGSOUND, supporting The Preatures national tour, signing to Ivy League Records, releasing a double A-Side 7″ and embarking on the ‘Dumb Ideas’ tour only playing in independent record stores throughout the east coast and Adelaide, and now they’re on the road again in support of ‘My Only Friend’.
Ahead of their Melbourne and Adelaide shows we chatted with the band’s lead guitarist Alex Cameron about some of the gigs that have changed his life.
Royal Headache w/ Kitchen’s Floor
At Muai Thai Stables Brisbane, 2012
“We were up in Brisbane playing a show at this same time this was on. It was a free sports shoe endorsed event in an upstairs boxing gym in the Valley. The band played from inside the boxing and the room was crammed with hundreds of young Brisbane kids, who were absolutely wasted on the free alcohol.
The ring was surrounded on all sides by the crowd and people would crowd surf into the ring, then jump off the ropes back into the crowd. It was the first time I’d seen Royal Headache. Shogun (vocalist) was soon shirtless and belligerent between songs but once the music started he took to it, pacing and pivoting like a prize fighter.”
Eddy Current Suppression Ring
161 Prahran, Melbourne 2005 (or maybe ’06)
“Every Thursday for about two years my friends and I would go to “Shake Some Action” at 161 on High street Prahran. Bands would play first then we would hit the coloured light dance floor, where Hugh Waters/Streetparty would drop such bangers as Dramarama’s ‘Anything, Anything’ or Le Tigre’s ‘Deceptacon’. It seems like everyone that used to go there is still in bands or doing something involved with music. The bands that played there early gigs there were awesome and diverse – anyone from Cut Copy and Midnight Juggernauts to My Disco, Ground Components, Damn Arms and Children Collide.
It was a real formative time for me and seeing all these bands was such a great introduction to music. I think this Eddy Current show was one of their very early shows. I remember being pretty taken aback and kind of scared of the really intense guy wearing gloves. Garage and punk music wasn’t really on my radar at that time, so it was foreign but fascinating. Going to watch the band play around Melbourne, led to an introduction to heaps of other awesome bands that they played with.”
Bruce Springsteen and the E street Band
Telstra Dome, 2003
“Everyone talks about how good Springsteen is live and this was no exception. I think you always have a special relationship with songs that you have heard since your very childhood. Born to Run was the first compact disc my dad bought apparently, so it’s imprinted on my subconscious. Seeing all that in the flesh was pretty emotional.
This concert took place just after the US had invaded Iraq. Springsteen opened the gig with a solo acoustic version of ‘Born in the USA’, played in a really mournful delta blues style. The whole band then came out for ‘War’, the Edwin Starr cover.”
Swans
All Tomorrow Parties, Altona, Melbourne, 2013
“The line up for ATP at Altona was pretty amazing: MBV, Godspeed, Don Walker, Einsturzende Neubaten. The standout on the day for me though was Swans. It was by far the loudest show I have ever been to.
So loud that it was a physically oppressive to make it through their set, but so powerful that you didn’t feel like you could leave. Michael Gira yelled and gesticulated at the other band members like some kind of demonic conductor. I don’t know how damaged my hearing was, but unfortunately Godspeed and MBV, who played after Swans, just sounded pretty muted in comparison.”
Lightning Bolt
Chicago 2010
“I saw Lightning Bolt when I was travelling a few years ago. It was at an outside festival. Their playing is almost virtuosic. They were probably the loudest thing I had seen before Swans too.”
‘My Only Friend’ National Tour
Thu 2 Oct Melbourne | Shebeen (18+)
Fri 3 Oct Melbourne | Shebeen (18+) *SOLD OUT*
Sat 11 Oct Adelaide | Jive (18+) *SOLD OUT*
Sun 12 Oct Adelaide | Jive (18+)
For tickets and info visit www.baddreems.com
