The Dirty Three, 12 Jan The Prince Bandroom
By Steven Gill
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After seeing this band at Meredith and viewing the emotional performance that made even the skies break, I thought I would witness their one and only Melbourne show with Conway Savage to see if it was just the whole Meredith experience that got to me. I can tell you now, that they put on just as good a show in a small Melbourne pub.
Conway Savage, who is known mainly for his work with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, started the evening perfectly with his two other members playing some romantic, melancholy, melodic tunes, some even from Nick Cave's repertoire. As he ran out of smokes and wine, he departed the stage leaving it open for Melbourne’s own Dirty Three who haven’t toured through Melbourne in a while as Warren Ellis has mostly been in Paris with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds also.
Warren Ellis came out with his other two comrades Jim White (drums), and Mick Turner (guitar). As Warren tuned his violin, he immediately engaged with the crowd about the Tsunami tragedy but of course using an extensive range of swear words in a very Australian manner, he led on to dedicate the first song ‘Everything’s Fucked’ to the sufferers. This song sums up perfectly what The Dirty Three’s music is about; an instrumental celebration of the despondent moments in life. They have been around since 1992 and released 6 albums with a couple of limited edition EP’s.
Warren then went on to tell the audience how he had spent all day at the dentist and was fairly drugged up. This was probably a good thing for us because his hyperbolic movements of dance were extended by a limb and a half. We also got the impression that there was no set list, revealed by Ellis asking the crowd which song they would like to hear through out the entire show. Hence the performance being practically a best of, with all the greats such as ‘Indian love song’, ‘Sea above, sky below’, ‘Alice waiting’, ‘She has no strings’, and ‘Sue’s last ride’ which took persistence on the crowd’s behalf of practically begging. They also played a new song which is said to be released on a new album that shall be placed on shelf soon.
Watching Warren play is a great experience for any music lover. When he is playing, most of the time, he is facing Jim White with his back to the audience as to say, ‘don’t look, I am shy’. But when he does reveal his front whilst playing, it is like seeing someone building a soul. Ellis is a true showman as well, from eating a banana half way through the set and hocking loogies across the stage, to his verbose introduction of each song. Being an instrumental band, each listener may have different visions for each song and a different meaning, Ellis explains his every time.
But Warren Ellis is not the only part of the band worth watching, Jim White is extraordinary. He is a large looking gentle beast that plays the drums so casually without a huff or a puff. His arms gracefully flailing about, changing from sticks to brushes very frequently. He has currently been working with New Buffalo’s Sally Seltman and was recruited by Warren from the Black eyed Susans.
By the end of the show, Ellis’ bow is looking like a comb over on a windy day, and the crowd look emotionally drained, and physically from clapping after each song like it were the encore. After seeing such a gig, you feel like going out and learning an instrument and making songs that go on twelve minute tangents, some consisting of noises you could probably make on your first lesson and others with pure genius ness that takes years of classical learning to construct.