Gomez copped a bit of flack from critics and fans alike when their latest album How We Operate didn’t quite match up to previous efforts. However, like so many great songs, live performance breathes new life into the new songs, and Gomez returned to the Tivoli to put yet another notch on their awesome-live-performance belt.
West Australia’s The Panda Band open tonights proceedings, and at first front man Damien Crosbie’s vocals are too high in the mix, drowning out the rest of the band. For some bands, that would be fine, but the Panda Band’s strengths are their layers and arrangements, and once the levels get sorted out, it’s another fine performance from this five-piece. They play their quirky psychadelia without a trace of self consciousness – it’s music which is impossible to dance to, and impossible not to sway to. A rocked out version of hit single Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town is a definite highlight, and after Spanish Bride, and We’ve Got The Face Of The Earth, the set ends with what they do best – a chaos of feedback drenched rock.
The White Buffalo looks like he just stepped off a Harley, but he counters that with a delicate first song that has punters shooshing each other to hear. There’s no stage show here, its one (giant) man, and his accoustic guitar (with a spare behind him that never gets touched), but the songs are delivered with aching perfection. The second song takes off into some kind of speed death ballad, and from there, each and every uniqiue song is delivered with calm assurance. By the end of the set, every song is getting a roar of approval. For a man with only one (self-titled) EP to his name, the future looks very bright for The White Buffalo.
Gomez, in contrast, fill the stage from corner to corner. With their three frontmen Ian Ball, Ben Ottewell and Tom Gray taking their usual places at left, centre and right of stage respectively, Gray opens up Revolutionary Kind, while Ottewell lays his trademark vocals over the top. The jangled pop of Hamoa Beach belies the serious nature of the lyrics, while the crowd sings along for Love Is Better Than A Warm Trombone, but doesnt come close to matching Ottewell’s raspy cry. These Three Sins sees Gray playing some honkytonk piano rhythms, and Here Comes The Breeze is the best song of the night, as Ottewell demonstrates a little versatility, starting the song with a slide, and then going off on his guitar during the extra-long bridge.
Detroit Swing 66 makes an unexpected and welcome appearance, but with the electric instead of the acoustic driving it, it loses a little flow. The bridge of the poppy Girlshapedlovedrug allows Ottewell to once again step up with his guitar, this time to rip out some stadium rock power riffs, smiling all the while. Blue Moon Rising is even more laidback than the album version, before Hangover Girl and crowd pleaser Get Myself Arrested ramp the energy back up. The biggest surprise inclusion is Liquid Skin closer Devil Will Ride, complete with robotic voice, and crowd clapalong. After the break, there’s one more new song, before yet another surprise in the shape of Rhythm & Blues Alibi, and the night finishes with single How We Operate.
It’s been another stellar show from Gomez, and the crowd has been enraptured for every moment of it. The sheer diversity of talent on display is stunning, and the audience (after cheering desperately for a second encore) make their way reluctantly into the night, no doubt making plans for the next time Gomez hit our shores, which probably isn’t very far away.
