New York math-rock experimentalists Battles have certainly found a solid footing in Australia, touring this country on several occasions prior to this year and selling out many of their shows. The group were last on our shores in 2009 as part of the Vivid Festival in Sydney, but since then, a few important events have taken place within the Battles world. Perhaps the most notable of these was the departure of founding vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Tyondai Braxton, who wanted to take a bit of a break from the band, and so amicably departed during the recording sessions for their sophomore album. But the remaining members – Ian Williams, Dave Konopka and John Stanier – pressed on as a trio, and in 2011 released an absolute beauty of an album entitled Gloss Drop. In Braxton’s absence, the group kept the album mostly instrumental, but for a few songs called upon the talents of a rather impressive cast of guest vocalists – Matias Aguayo, Gary Numan, Kazu Makino and Yamantaka Eye no less! Now, with a returning slot on the 2012 Big Day Out lineup, Williams, Konopka and Stanier dropped by the Forum on a Saturday night to treat their Melbournian fans to something a little more intimate and longer!
Up first on the bill was Melbourne electronic performer Mathew Watson, under the moniker Other Places. On stage left, Williams took care of the synthesizers and electronic-based side of things, while his friend Dave Williams proved himself to be quite handy with the drumkit in the centre of the stage. It was a real shame that Other Places suffered the typical “opening act” effect – that is, there was hardly anyone in the room while they were performing, and those that were there didn’t seem like they were too fazed or affected in any way by the music coming from the stage and PA. However, Watson’s sounds proved very enjoyable, as he delivered a short but sweet set of glitchy electronica that certainly didn’t seem out of place on the bill considering the headlining act. The sound of the PA was absolutely massive too, with some of the heavier frequencies being heard and felt in equal measures. This guy has the potential to go places (pun slightly intended).
There seems to be quite a few people singing the praises of Melbournians Witch Hats at the moment, which was perhaps how they got themselves noticed and got the honour of supporting Battles. However, they didn’t really seem to be the ideal band suited to this particular occasion, and they too received a polite but mostly lukewarm response from the growing crowd. It would be foolish and indeed, blatantly incorrect to say that the band aren’t talented, but their indie/garage sounds just didn’t match the band they were opening for, and it all sounded a little same-old same-old, given that the headlining act for the evening have made a name for themselves for being sonically groundbreaking and a little bit “out there”. This is one band that would definitely be better enjoyed on a boozy weekend night with a lineup of likeminded acts at a venue such as, say, the Tote or the Workers, rather than opening for an international math-rock band at the Forum. But to their credit, they took to the occasion with enthusiasm and vigour, delivering a solid set that gradually got more interesting, but still not interesting enough. For their last song, there was a quick set-up of a keyboard on one side of the stage, which was then played by a previously unseen guest. This all seemed a bit pointless really for only one song, but then again, a few people in the crowd were probably secretly glad that the set had finally come to an end and the focus could finally shift to the headlining act.
Two video screens sandwiched between a wall of amps flickered into life, and the crowd reacted suitably, as three blokes made their way to the rather impressive array of instruments in the centre of stage. With a familiar loop making its way into the mix, it was Gloss Drop opener Africastle that opened the set tonight, and right from the word go it became obvious that Battles were well on their game tonight and were easily going to live up to the expectations that the crowd were placing upon them due to their previous reputation. Williams and Konopka looked suitably busy even in just the opening minutes – in Williams’ case he’d be playing away on his guitar one minute, before abruptly throwing it behind his back to juggle various keyboard and electronic duties. On the other side of the stage, Konopka spent a large portion of the set on the floor playing with pedals, as well as switching between guitar and bass even in mid-song.
Obviously the band are unable to tour everywhere with the Gloss Drop guest vocalists, but as Africastle gave way to Sweetie & Shag, the crowd was introduced to Battles’ simple yet effective way of making sure the vocalists’ presences were still felt in the live situation. Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino appeared on the video screens in pre-recorded form, delivering her vocal lines to the song in perfect accompaniment to the trio who were recreating the song on stage. The band would use this trick a few more times throughout the evening – namely with Matias Aguayo on Ice Cream, and Gary Numan on My Machines. It’s always fun to see a band perform songs a little differently onstage than they did on their album, and Sweetie & Shag and Ice Cream had some very interesting extended outros. And of course, in Braxton’s absence, the pair of older songs that made it into the set were given something of a sonic makeover. An early rendition of Atlas, which saw the crowd understandably lose their shit as soon as those recognisable riffs made their way into the mix over Stanier’s unrelenting metronomic assault, saw Braxton’s pitch-shifted vocal wackiness replaced with what sounded like a children’s choir. Though this new approach to the song was a bit unexpected, for the most part it still sounded like the song that the fans know and love from the group’s immensely popular debut album Mirrored, and it got probably the biggest reaction on the night. Another popular track from Mirrored, Tonto, was stripped-back and not performed to its full studio length, however unlike Atlas it was debatable whether this new version of the track worked well with the crowd.
All through the night, there seemed to be absolutely no faulting the performance of the three people onstage – at some points of the set, it wasn’t clear whether those were indeed humans up there, as their musicianship frequently reached robot-like levels, especially in the case of Stanier. No matter how complex the loops got, no matter how many layers of sound were layered upon other layers of sound, Battles just refused to fuck up. Finally though, as Gary Numan appeared on the video screen to sing My Machines, it was technical difficulties that threatened to derail an otherwise flawless performance. Williams struggled furiously with his pair of keyboards, but during most of the song, it seemed that he could not get any sound out of them and at one point a technician had to quickly dash onstage to attempt to fix the problem – which he apparently did. By the end of the song though, it seemed all was rectified, and the trio brought it home with a solid rendition of Futura, the video screens featuring a clever animated display of the pink mess that adorns the Gloss Drop album cover.
An encore at this point seemed a little unnecessary, but the crowd certainly weren’t complaining about the chance to have more Battles in their life, and Williams and Konopka kicked it all off with a feedback-drenched introduction to the concluding track on Gloss Drop, the sonic behemoth that is Sundome, before being rejoined by Stanier after a few minutes (no doubt he needed a bit of extra time to recover!) Though unfortunately this particular track would not feature the vocalist-on-the-screen technique (a real shame, as this song features the amazing Yamantaka Eye from Boredoms), it was still a stellar way to conclude the evening, as the band delivered a delightfully wacky extended version of what’s already a slightly longer than average track! At last, it was all over, and as the band departed the stage, the rapturous crowd farewelled the band in the usual fashion, but there was an added sense of stunned amazement at what those three blokes from New York had just done.
SETLIST:
Africastle
Sweetie & Shag
Dominican Fade
Atlas
Wall Street
Tonto
Ice Cream
Inchworm
My Machines
Futura
----Encore----
Sundome
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