Dandies in vintage form
CONCERT
The Dandy Warhols
4 stars
Astor Theatre
Review: Harvey Rae
The Dandy Warhols opened their Australian tour on Thursday night with a psychedelic showstopper, proving they are anything but passe. The first of two sold-out nights at the Astor ahead of tonight's headline at the North-West Festival in Port Hedland revealed the Dandies in fine form as they shook the venue with an impressive visual and sonic display.
With a wall of swirling guitars the band kicked into Be-In, the epic opener on 1997's . . . The Dandy Warhols Come Down. The droning number was a sign of things to come as the band focused on songs from that album and 2000's Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, their commercial breakthrough.
We Used to Be Friends, Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth, Thirteen Tales' deep cut Shakin' and the perfect pop of Evan Dando co-write You Were the Last High followed, part of a sequence that also included a massive-sounding I Love You.
Still with the same line-up they've had since 1998, the Dandies are in career-best form. Frontman Courtney Taylor- Taylor was more into it than out of it, and the light show provides spectacle enough that keyboardist Zia McCabe no longer needs to take her top off.
After the strong start, the set lulled through the middle with 1995 single Ride a blast from the past among newer and more obscure tracks. Highlighted by some psychedelic freakouts, it wasn't until Solid that the show was truly back on track.
Horse Pills signalled a run of tracks from Thirteen Tales with a feast of strobes, McCabe working the crowd in her cut-off Appetite for Destruction top.
Then Bohemian Like You dropped and the dancing kicked in, Get Off continued the theme, and a rousing Godless had the crowd singing the song's signature trumpet melody in lieu of any actual horns.
Coming to a close with an atmospheric medley of Pete International Airport and Boys Better, there was no encore but McCabe's indulgent synth workout on her vintage Korg kept the energy up.
Their albums might not hit the highs these days but credit where it's due, Dandies live shows only get better.
