Live Review: The Drones

It’s been 10 long years since The Drones released the hugely successful album, Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By. To celebrate the anniversary of the release, the band announced a seven date tour of Australia. The second leg of the tour fell upon their former hometown of Perth and a near sell-out crowd at the Rosemount Hotel. 

Starting out the night was Melbourne sludge-punk act Batpiss. The three piece relentlessly smashed through their set, leaving little time to talk to the rowdy fans that had turned up early to see them play. Fronted by Thomy Sloane and Paul Portal, this is a band of clashes. The clash of Sloane’s heavily distorted bass against Portal’s wailing guitar. The music jumping from punk to doom and from doom to thrash – all set against the dual vocals of Sloane and Portal. Being their first ever show in Perth it could be said that a 30-minute set was not enough, and the crowd echoed that sentiment through cheers of “One more song” as they left the stage. 

The gap between bands was a good 45 minutes, but it did nothing to impede the excitement of fans as crowded the front of the room. The air was thick with the smell of red wine and stale beer, an unfamiliar yet oddly suitable sensation for a night like this. The Drones’ frontman, Gareth Liddiard. took to the stage in a Black Flag hoodie that probably made him the most underdressed person in a crowd of surprisingly well-dressed attendees. 

The band opened with their hit song, Shark Fin Blues - or as Liddiard put it “This is the first song off our old album.” The classic song got huge cheers from the crowd who song, after song, waved their hands the air and nodded their heads to the beat – a mood cultivated by a heartfelt and incredible performance. 

The band has recently reunited with former drummer Christian Strybosch, who played on the Wait Long By The River album. Strybosch is an amazing performer – every accent and beat syncing perfectly with bassist Fiona Kitschin, whose basslines provide the backbone to the masterfully composed songs. After rounding out the first four of the album’s tracks with Locust, the band moved onto other hits like This Time and Six Ways From Sunday. 

Despite barely having enough room to breathe, fans still found their way to the bar - some drunkenly cheering out and heckling Liddiard, who in turn told jokes and poked fun at Perth’s lack of shopping and fandom of AFL. But it was all in good fun – a part of the larrikin humour that makes the band such a true Australian act. Through a mess of distortion and feedback, Kitschin led the band into the haunting track The Miller’s Daughter, off their 2005 album of the same name. 

The Drones took a small break, walking off stage as their instruments created a wall of noise that made it hard to hear the crowd cheering out for an encore. After a few peeks from backstage the band returned to play the much anticipated “one last song” – a cover of Kev Carmody’s River Of Tears. It was an incredible finish to the night and a wonderful inclusion to a spectacular set. 

Originally published by X-Press Magazine