I Will Go Out Alone

I walked the few blocks from my house to The Hopetoun Hotel just as I have many times in the past, only this time I was alone, not meeting anyone and going to a see a random band. Okay, so the random band thing wasn’t so new but the rest was. I was kinda nice though, the punk with attitude was on the door and welcomed me, as did the owner and a couple of regulars. I wasn’t alone after all.
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I walked into the Hopetoun blind. You can image my surprise and pleasure to see Des Miller on the bill. I had already missed Berkfinger and the curiously named If It Bleeds It Can Be Butchered. Shortly after my arrival the Melbourne based Plastic Palace Alice began to play. A six piece band that had driven ten hours to play a forty-five minute set before turning around and going home again. Lead singer Rob wore braces for the occasion and Emily one of the two girls in the band and the percussion queen wore a paper clip to hold her belt in place. They opened their set with ‘Murakami’ followed by ‘Karaoking’, an early Bowie inspired song with Emily also showing her vocal range. It was such a shame she looked so bored.

After the fifth song ‘Carrion’ they finally decided it would be a good time to talk to the audience. It may have been a bit late to admit that they had brought too much stuff with them, we could see that. On the small stage were six people, eight guitars, a drum kit, a harmonica, two keyboards, a xylophone, a tambourine, one of the little shakers that looks like a seedpod and the biggest brass triangle you have ever seen. Despite the over profusion of instruments the music was surprisingly simple with a heavy emphasise on guitar and Bob Dylan sounds. It was an extremely likable set that ended with the very catchy ‘Girl Who Cried Wolf’ and a well deserved and loud round of applause.

After the quickest turn around I’ve ever seen Des Miller came on stage. Now despite the name, none of the band members is actually called Des, unless you count lead singer and guitarist John ‘Desmond’ Miller. With short curly hair and a red cowboy shirt under his jacket, he soon lost his Cat Stevens look in the heat of the room and took on a look of sweaty pop idol, as in fact did the entire band. A full house meant the temperature in the room had shot up to the late thirties and it became very clear to me as sweat dripped from the end of Johnno’s nose why so many performance artists wear those awful sports headbands. The only one looking cool was keyboard player Robbie Moore in his Ziggy Stardust t-shirt while everyone else struggled with western style.

The set started with ‘On the Surface of Solitude’, as soon as it was done they took the time to thank the support bands and praise the talent they were following. It gave the crowd something to relate to and even if Des Miller hadn’t been in full favour before, they were now. ‘Lucy’ and ‘3pm’ showed the bands country Travelling Wilbys style crossed with a little Pink Floyd mixed in with a splash of Buddy Holly. It’s a confusing sound that pulls you in with it hypnotic sound, the lead singer being down on one knee praying to the gods of rock and roll doesn’t hurt either.

The set continued with ‘Borderline on Fire’, before they pulled Lucy from the audience to help them out with a little feminine vocal on ‘Time’. Is this the Lucy they told to ‘close your eyes and make it go away’ earlier? They wound-up the set with ‘Sorry’ and ‘OK’ before playing the finale, ‘Knife Edge’ a really catchy if slightly disturbing tune that had the entire crowd bopping in the aisle. Okay, so the whole place is one big aisle, with everyone dancing and generally having a great time. An encore was requested but kindly declined due to the shear amount of water that had to be drunk to stop the guys turning to dust and I don’t think I’m the only one who doesn’t want that for a very long time.