What’s this!? Larry, reviewing a gig in Melbourne!? Well yes indeed boys and girls, I recently took a trip down south, and got to go to my first ever gig in your fine city! Although, I HAD been down to Big Day Out and V Festival this year and last year, respectively – so I was only a slight virgin on the whole “Melbourne Live Music Scene” thing… but anyway.
It was on recommendation from this very website that I decided to attend The Priory Dolls on my only free evening in Melbourne – Alexandra wrote them up some kind words a couple of months back [
here
]. But I still had a wait a short while to see them, as The Polites were finishing up as I walked in. I was rather impressed by the two tracks I heard – their laid back, yet powerful melodies are definitely worth a listen. [
Check out the Polites Myspace Page Here
]
With The Polites finishing up a bit later than expected, the whole night seemed to be running a bit behind schedule. As such, The Priory Dolls – supposed headliners of the evening, had to start up 15 minutes late. On any other night this would have been fine, but for some reason, The “Shake Some Action” night at One Six One deemed it more important that they finished when they were supposed to – so suddenly their set got cut down to a mere 15-or-so minutes, much to the dismay of everyone in the room.
And why, do you ask, were The Priory Dolls rushed off stage? So The Mangles, a Bangles cover band could start and finish on time. Seriously. Needless to say, much of the crowd was there to see The Dolls and promptly left the venue after the disappointing set.
In this reviewers opinion – especially a reviewer who had spent his only free evening in Melbourne trekking out to Prahran to see The Dolls – they should seriously reconsider their priorities. That’s not to say that The Mangles weren’t a bit of fun (not that I hung around for much) – it’s just that The Dolls had top billing for the night (to my understanding) – and as such, shouldn’t The Mangles have had their set cut short? Or, simply let everyone play the length they were supposed to, thus putting the DJs on 15 minutes later?
But onto what I DID see of The Priory Dolls, I seriously loved all 3 1/2 songs of their performance. Their last track was apparently cut off just before it got “epic”, which was a big disappointment – but oh well, I’ll just have to check them out next time they’re in Sydney. They are seriously talented, and if such is an example of what Melbourne has to offer – sign me up! Just at a better venue next time…
