It's difficult to really put into words how amazing the Dandy Warhol's were last Friday, I could just type: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it could sum up everything better then I'm about to.
The first song I ever heard by the Dandy Warhols was "We Used to be Friends" (the theme song to Veronica Mars) back in 2006. I started High school that year and consequently found myself loosing contact with people I used to be friends with, I was already obsessed with the song (in ways only a 12 year old girl can be) and was convinced the song had some deep profound meaning in my life. It didn't, it was just a catchy song, with a chorus that could blatantly apply to any loss of friendship (or you know... the stuff covered in DiG). But it was still an excellent song, and once I got over myself I bought '13 Tales from Urban Bohemia' . Albums like '13 Tales' probably make it very difficult to catagorise a band like the Dandy's genre-wise because it's a whole mash up of songs that don't sound like they have anything to do with each other, my friend who accompanied me to the concert described '13 Tales' as a "mind-fuck in a good way" and I couldn't have put it in better words. This whole "mind-fuck" business and mish-mash of songs and genres I imagine, would make it really fun to play in a band like the Dandy Warhols. There seems to be no restriction in only writing songs that fit an archetype established early in ones career so the ability to constantly be progressing and changing is more natural then contrived-- this is obvious when you consider that they've been around for 17 years or so and show no signs of stopping (their new album is out early next year).
For the time being, just seeing and hearing them play is enough to make you realise how unique they really are-- there's no real fixed set list as shown by the spontaneous decision to play 'Kim Deal' after an audience member requested it, and almost every song is played with the same enthusiasm and energy, as when it was first released. Except for perhaps 'Bohemian Like You' which understandably may feel over done knowing it's the one song everyone in the audience knows off by heart, it sounded more reluctantly played then any of their other songs-- but it's not a Dandy's concert if you leave it out. It didn't matter, every other song they played had the audience on a such a high, whether they were jumping about, attentively watching/listening/singing along or literally getting high. It was music that truly filled the room, I imagine it wouldn't have mattered if you were seated right at the back or standing at the front-- there's something so exciting about their music that just experiencing it live (and in a venue like the Enmore) makes nobody feel like they're missing out. The wall of noise they create in their more phsyc-pop/rock songs* is easy to get lost in, and as one audience member stated "that was like being born again". But even when 3/4 of the band leave briefly and singer Courtney Taylor is left to perform an "acoustic" version of 'Everyday Should Be a Holiday' the mood doesn't change as the audience more then happily fill in the gaps... the Dandy Warhol's had everyone in that room in the palm of their hand.
Considering the Sydney concert was one of the last shows of their Australian tour they played for almost 3 hours, which is damn impressive but sort of expected when you consider how many albums they have (that's 9). There was also a special guest appearance by the Vines, who accompanied the Dandy's on-stage towards the end of the night to 'jam' (cue more psych-pop/rock and "mind fucks"). Though it was a lengthy concert nobody would dare have moved (except if you were epileptic because the amount of strobe lighting was insane)-- after all theres something so comfortable about a gig that everyone can feel is really really good.
Also I caught one of Pete's plectrums!
*I could have just made that word up.
