Dern appear to attract a huge variety of listeners, looking around the Evelyn last night, there were bikies, people in footy jumpers, cheerleader types, hippies, goths, and just about every other "group" of people was represented, even us "normal" looking people. I use these words lightly, I am not big on categories.
As I mentioned in my last article on Dern Rutlidge, they impressed me so much I went out and bought the CD the next day, this unfortunately got stolen along with our car last week, so ifanyone wants to send me another copy (band members if you stumble across this!)...
For $10 entry, I was more than happy with the performance delivered and am thinking about going to see them again next weekend at Revolver in St Kilda.
The obvious hits of the night, with the people who didn't know all the words to every song, like ourselves, were the single "Lines on the Table" and "smells likes teen pregnancy" - with a chorus like "I'm sorry I came in you" how can you go wrong with today's market??? *grin*
The band playeda couple of older tracks, not ont heir album unfortunately, which were among my favorites from the night, I shall have to try to track them down through the band website I think.
A cover of the Misfits classic (I am going to call it) "goddamn son of a bitch" (you all know which song I mean) generated a huge reaction from the crowd as their last song for the evening, singer C. Westwood was joined on stage by a very enthusiastic audience member, who we think may have been the singer from another Melbourne band, Frankenbok (check out their cover of Don't call me baby if you can find it).
This was not the only time the band was joined on stange, with Westoowd managing to humiliate the first to try it, unfortuantely in ebtween songs, when he copped the full brunt of Westwood's undeniable wit (getting on stage during a song, is cool, in between songs, i just being a dick basically...). The culprit pushed past us to the bar with a face like a thundercloud (referring to the band as f**king gaybos) after that! Was quite amusing.
My brother and I were interviewed by a chick for some magazine, keep an eye out for some inane quotes in the free magazines, she was a little strange... danced kind of like Elaine from Seinfeld crossed with a Heat Cage Dancer. Would have fit right into an 80's Beastie Boys concert. Karl was less than impressed by her attempt to enforce her opinion that Dern blew the Mark of Cain off the stage... But the girl was obviously a huge fan, she knew all the words to every song played, and you have to respect that, I will get there eventually, I have only known about the band for 3 weeks.
Oh and I have to give a special mention to "smiley guy"... a new art in getting through crowds, he was superb. Wearing a tyedied t-shirt and a huge grin amongst his multitides of facial hair, he politely tapped each person on the shoulder and gave them a huge thumbs up and an extra grin before moving past them as they went, "who the hell was that?"
Overall, I apologise for reviewing the crowd as much as the band, but it was such a good night, and the crowd was all part of it.
Go out and buy Johnny No Stars now! $20.99 from JB Hi Fi, or check out the second hand shps *grin*.
Well I guess the best thing I can say here is that I liked the band so much I ran straight into JB Hi-Fi on Sunday afternoon and bought their CD! Having listened to the whole thing a few times over, I must say I am pretty damn happy with the purchase...
Back to the concert, as good as The Mark of Cain were, I actually preferred the Dern Rutlidge set, it is more my style of music, and I am pretty sure they are from Melbourne, but I could be mistaken. I should maybe read the whole web page huh? *grin*
The singers banter with the audience was good, he had a great stage presence, and in spite of their relaxed appearance, the whole band came across really well. Musical talent and a good sense of humour can go a long way. His observation that the album has not even had it's launch party yet and it has been seen in a second hand shop was amusing.
After a few songs, my brother and I drew the conclusion that Dern Rutlidge sound like a cross between Stone Temple Pilots and Kyuss... so I guess if you like either of those styles of music, you should probably give a good Aussie band a chance and go see them, buy the album!!!
The upshot of me writing any of this is that I think that any of you who are in Melbourne should come along and check them out at the Evelyn Hotel on the 11th of August for the official Melbourne Album Launch Party. There is also one on Sydney, you can check out their website for details.
