Big Day Out
Flemington Racecourse
January 26, 2009
Eddy Current Suppression Ring was a gift to me from my friend Leigh. The Melbourne four-piece has been getting solid word-of-month for a while now; it showed at the Melbourne Big Day Out, where a decent crowd waited for singer Brendan Suppression, guitarist and keyboardist Eddy Current, bassist Rob Solid and drummer Danny Current to come out and live up to their reputation as one of the nation’s best live bands.
Brendan Suppression is known for a few things: his intensity, Michael Jackson-esque gloves, tendency to sing with his back to the crowd and having a dance on stage. Add to this list a bit of singing while crowd-surfing among his teenage and 20-something fans in the summer sun. The band’s songs are often lyrically and musically simple but in the best possible way. Topics range from the hypnotism of television to battling indecision (‘Which way to go’) and the idea of a lover as novel to be read over and over. The band doesn’t play that often but they’re a sight to behold and destined for greatness.
Fittingly, Eddy Current was followed by fellow Melbourne faves Little Red, termed “original doo-wop punk” on Myspace. All the right noises are being made about Little Red; they’re great live, make good harmonies, they’re cute as can be and play lotsa catchy tunes. The five-piece has gathered critical acclaim for its debut album, Listen to Little Red (read Laneway‘s review here) and mass appeal is probably next. Melbourne BDO was not the band’s finest hour, but their set was still entertaining enough and by the sounds of it, their second album will also be a fun little corker.
For energy and excitement, though, it was hard to top Lupe Fiasco. The American rapper is supposed to be retiring after his next album – sad news for those who’ve not seen him live but have appreciated such songs as ‘Kick Push’, ‘Superstar’, ‘Touch the Sky’ (with Kanye West) and ‘Daydreamin’ (with the lovely Jill Scott). The man is as intelligent as he is hot, and after dancing like mad in the boiling Boiler Room with his shirt off, he ended the euphoric one-hour set with a forward flip and the crowd went bananas. Apparently he didn’t play very long at his solo concert at the Palace the next night, but it’s better to eat a little butter than a tub of margarine.
