“Thank you for staying with us. This is very much the weirdest gig we’ve ever played. Sorry that it wasn’t loud enough.”
I almost feel like DZ Deathrays, who are quoted here as they brought their show to an end, summed up the night better than I ever could. As the night hit 1am, the group who had assembled to watch an excellent night of rock and roll found themselves surrounded by middle aged women on their hens night, Asian businessmen and a world of dispair: a casino gamefloor.
Sydney’s “newest live music venue” just happens to be situated in Star City Casino, with the Rock Lily room smack dab in the middle of the action – windows on either side of the room reminding you that gambling is just outside, while a very open entrance has the venue requesting that these heavy rock and roll bands ‘don’t play their music too loud’. Yes, DZ, it is all a little bit bizarre, isn’t it?
Self described post-punk Sydney duo Corpus opened the night up, proving themselves an impressive force in the local community. Pumping out tunes off their debut EP Man, tracks like “Paradise” showed them off as a band who wear their influences on their sleeve.
Sitting somewhere in the worlds of Wire, Gang of Four, The Cure, Joy Division and Violent Femmes, we find their music bearing a decidedly more UK tongue. At times, it comes off as what Arctic Monkeys have been doing over the last decade – albeit with a decidedly harder edge. It’s all quite enjoyable and having listened to their debut EP since our encounter, I can’t help but see big things for this duo.
It had been a while since I’d last seen AU review favourite Chicks Who Love Guns, and as usual they didn’t disappoint – though their feelings of the venue were not far removed from the sentiments later revealed by DZ. The highlight of their set was a cover of “Yonkers” by Odd Future / Tyler, The Creator, which they nail. Though their recent material has them playing harder edged rock and roll (see the brilliant “God, Love & Satan”), its interesting to see just how well their fare when translating a hip hop track into their own style. Having also experienced Odd Future live, I daresay it’s a better version – and much like Odd Future, this is a band who knows how to get a crowd riled up. Tonight was no exception.
Brisbane band DZ Deathrays, fresh off a plane home from the UK (where they killed it at The Great Escape), looked slightly tired as they hit the stage (understandable…), but once they started playing, they could have fooled anyone. This two piece is one that knows how to rock and roll with style – and strobe lights. Having seen them quite a few times now, I daresay they are one of the most exciting young acts that Australia has to offer. Channeling some Death from Above 1979 and throwing in more standard rock and roll fodder, this is a band whose ability to create layered, intricate-yet-chaotic music is nothing short of extraordinary. DZ are one damn great band.
I for one am always for new venues popping up in Sydney, but I have to agree with DZ in their suggestion it’s all a bit of a bizarre experience. How long it will last in this context (e.g. featuring rock and roll bands who are asked to ‘not play too loud’) is anyone’s guess. Like the casinos of Vegas, this may be a venue destined to showcase cover bands until the wee hours of the morning. So with this in mind, I actually can’t recommend highly enough making a night of it all while it lasts. You’ve seriously never experienced anything like it. Oh, and did we mention it’s free? Let’s just hope you don’t have a gambling problem… in which case I would naturally advise against it… but whatever floats your boat, eh?
