British India
Corner Hotel
July 18, 2008
On the eve of the release of their sophomore album Thieves, British India delivered a burly performance in the gloomy and modest confines of Richmond’s Corner Hotel.
In front of a mixed crowd of punters, the four Melbourne boys punctually and quietly took to the stage. It wasn’t a huge audience, but with three Melbourne shows in as many nights it was nothing to be disappointed about.
And so the set began: Kicking off with a couple of strong tracks from their new album, the band indicated their intentions to stick with the musical formula that worked so well for them in 2007. The songs – This Dance Is Loaded and God Is Dead, Meet the Kids – were given a somewhat muted response, expected from a crowd hearing something fresh and undiscovered.
It was the familiar territory of Teenage Mother that set the tone for the rest of the night and when it was promptly followed by the current single I Said I’m Sorry, there was no going back. The gentle sway that curiously followed the music early on gave way to frenzied dancing and some very entertaining crowd surfing.
On a whole it was their older material that rose above the new songs. The new stuff just seemed to get a bit lost between the hits everyone was waiting for. Last year’s breakthrough singles Tie Up My Hands and Run the Red Light were definitely the highlight of the show, providing the impetus for spouts of unruly moshing and hearty sing-a-longs from the crowd.
Dedications to Bob Dylan, Bill Henson and anyone who took less than 15 minutes to get to the gig left me pondering the meaning of a few of the songs, but such was the nature of the music that it didn’t really matter what it’s message was; it’s all about the energy it instills in you.
Although fundamentally the band never really diverged from the album versions of their songs, there was something vastly different about seeing them live. The clean sounds of their studio work made way for the thrashing sounds of distorted guitars interspersed with some screeching lead work. It felt rough around the edges and ended up feeling decidedly more punk than pop. Not a bad set at all.
