Review: The Drones @ the Hi Fi
It’s hard to remain impartial and give a non-bias review when the band you are reviewing is one of your favourites. The Drones, luckily, gave such a performance on Friday night that even non-fans would have been left reeling at the quality of the performance. Touring for the first time in a number of years, the group were promoting their live DVD A Thousand Mistakes.
The Drones have been a fractured group recently, drummer Mike Noga wrote and recorded his second solo record, and spent most of this year touring while front man Gareth Liddiard did the same peddling his album Strange Tourist around the nation. You would think that a band whose members have spent so much time working individually would suffer a little when it came to performing live, but not for The Drones.
Unfortunately we missed support act Adalita, but all reports confirmed that the former Magic Dirt front woman and living epitome of ‘rock chick’ was in fine form. The near sold-out venue was buzzing with anticipation, it was clear that the audience were united in their adoration for this criminally underrated group. When they finally took the stage, to the strains of ‘Who Let the Dogs out?’ the audience roared with approval and so began one of the most unforgettable gigs I have witnessed.
Light on chitchat with the audience, the set consisted of both lesser known songs and crowd favourites. On-stage the songs were burned through by the band with seemingly boundless vigour; tracks from all five albums were present. The Drones seem to be a polarising band, listeners either love or hate them and they are honestly one of the most visually exciting, creative and hypnotic live acts Australia has ever produced. Their rough, heavy rock sound and screeching guitars teamed with the sophistication of Liddiard’s lyrics are an unusual combination but work together so well.
Highlights of the set included, Cold and Sober, Locust, a rendition of The Minotaur that almost whipped the crowd into frenzy and a cover of Kev Carmody’s River of Tears that was genuinely haunting. The set covered so many outstanding tracks but because the extensive back catalogue so many excellent tracks were sadly, left off.
At the centre of The Drones is frontman Gareth Liddiard, he is what makes The Drones such an electric live performance. A natural and enigmatic performer, his obvious passion for the music he produces endears him to the audience. Raw, honest and occasionally menacing his on-stage presence is captivates the attention of anyone in the room. A trademark of the live performances is Liddiard’s hilarious on-stage ranting and swearing at the audience, he didn’t disappoint, pausing mid-set he admonished the crowd for depending on “Apple Macintosh bullshit” and managed to address the audience as fuckwits many times. Instead of alienating his audience, Liddiard has the distinct talent for insulting a crowd which makes them love him all the more. The Drones, in my opinion deserve more attention than they have received over the years; such is the quality of their artfully written songs. Their live performance is at times breathtaking and not to be missed.