Review: Nothing But Thieves live at Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne on 20th July 2016. Written and photographed by Julia Lay.
Nothing But Thieves dropped a stellar self-titled album late last year and they were due to follow the release with an Australian tour at the now-canned Soundwave Festival 2016. Following these disappointing circumstances, Splendour In The Grass was able to make amends and bring them to our shores along with a couple of sold-out sideshows in tow. The delayed tour may have also been beneficial to allow for latecomers to catch up to the hype surrounding the band.
It was therefore a given that this show was met with much anticipation from a number of eager punters, many who showed up early to the venue to secure a good vantage point. After speaking to attendees, many were present for a range of reasons. From those haphazardly choosing a Splendour sideshow to spend a Wednesday night to those who obliged the recommendations from stadium-rock mammoths, Muse. For the unaware, Nothing But Thieves were invited to tour with Muse at the 40,000-capacity Rock in Roma in 2015, and re-invited for an extensive arena tour across Europe fairly recently.
From a glance around the venue, the demographics of this crowd were certainly diverse. There was no niche appeal or a particular sub-group of people to narrow the crowd into. Appealing to a variety of ages, people in post-work suits and leather jackets, the audience was a large melting pot of people who were willing to invest their time in a promising band.
Former Sydneysiders and now Melbournians Strangers were in charge of kicking off proceedings for this packed out show. It was great to see a strong turn out for the local band who were clearly chuffed to be there. Their stomp-inducing, fuzz-laced rhythms were a welcome warm up and successfully engaged the audience with their vocalist, Ben Britton, mingling into the crowd to cause a bit of welcome chaos. Riff embracing and upbeat, their style of music were a perfect choice for this Splendour sideshow. Their raucous set was met with rapturous applause and incited a sense of energy for the main band.
Anticipation built between the set change and people inched closer to the stage. Moving around to grab a drink was soon out of the question. People were already strategically standing on the seats in the booths and slotting themselves into any pocket of space they could find.
As lights dimmed, they belted into ‘Inch’ and then immediately into ‘Painkiller’. Those who wondered whether the vocal leverage of Conor Mason would hold up live could now put their thoughts at ease. It was evident that the studio versions of the songs could be rivalled in their live performances, and perhaps arguably more powerful. The five-piece work well together and it was visible that they all enjoyed being in the band.
Throughout the evening, fans were treated to almost all of the songs on their debut album along with a Pixies cover to twist it up.
“Do we have any Pixies fans?” asked the frontman. “They’re a massive influence on us and we’d like to share with you a song by them.”
This was greeted with cheers from the crowd as they launched into a rendition of “Where Is My Mind?” which they managed to make into their own. It is fantastic to see a band acknowledge their influences and wear them on their sleeves. It gives a bigger idea of where the band is coming from and how they were shaped.
A solid rendition of ‘Graveyard Whistling’ and ‘Hanging’ followed with the crowd encouraging during the high notes that were hit. The pounding bass line of ‘Wake Up Call’ made it sound even better as a live song and this concluded the main set, leaving the audience hanging (pun intended) for more.
They began the encore with the more subdued ‘Lover, Please Stay’ a track that exhibits the flexibility of the band to bring a more intimate flavour to the table. Radio favourite, ‘Trip Switch’, was met with a loud sing-a-long from the adoring crowd. Finishing off with an extended version of ‘Ban All the Music’ it was obvious that this was a band able to add and change elements in their live sets to better songs off the album.
Upon leaving the venue, Muse’s ‘The Handler’ was playing over the sound system as a nod of appreciation. A noteworthy sight was that the band was already outside chatting to their fans immediately after their set. From what we saw tonight, expect them to play in bigger venues the next time around.
Setlist
Itch
Painkiller
Hostage
Honey Whiskey
Excuse Me
If I Get High
Drawing Pins
Where Is My Mind? (Pixies cover)
Graveyard Whistling
Hanging
Wake Up Call
Lover, Please Stay
Trip Switch
Ban All the Music
