After a sold-out Friday night gig as part of their Calendar Days tour, Dick Diver returned to the Corner Hotel on a Sunday night, fresh from Castlemaine with new local support acts in tow.
Taking to the stage first was alluring and atmospheric four-piece The School Of Radiant Living. Their full-bodied sound and Nico-esque vocals provided a punchy and exciting beginning to the night.
Next was the intriguing Jarrod Quarrell and his solo project Lost Animal. Strutting around in his tortured fashion, his on-stage persona was just as curious as his music, blending an unusual mix of synth beats, tropical sounds and sinister vocals.
While the composition of his music was clever and challenging, his vocals wore on a little in his constant monotone drone. Nonetheless, the anthemic and quietly uplifting “Lose The Baby” provided a strong finish.
Finally, Dick Diver appeared from behind the red curtains.
Like a messy group of schoolkids, the foursome took their positions with Rupert Edwards on keys for the opener “Blue & That.” The sleepy, sparse sounds and fully exposed Australian accent that characterised this song would continue for the rest of the night.
The group sampled a mixture of tracks from their two LPs, Head Back and Calendar Days, textured with jangly guitar, vocals that bordered on spoken word, and images of flannel shirts, suburban backyards and Centrelink payments.
The changing of musical positions at several points throughout the set created a very casual, relaxed atmosphere. In particular, drummer Steph Hughes’ singing created a softness that took some edge off the suburban drawl.
Bassist Al Montfort was the star personality, colouring the set with random quirks that included offhand energy drink advertisements and a stellar Ricky Nixon impersonation. Part musician, part hero, Montfort was well on his way towards an Australian Of The Year nomination (for which he is currently campaigning on Facebook), confronting hagglers in the front row and their ill-timed psychosis.
A particular highlight was the performance of “Head Back” which saw Montfort take the microphone with his unique, sarcastic vocals. The sense of humour in this piece “You take a month, you take a year, you take a financial year” was infectiously upbeat.
Lost Animal’s Shags Chamberlain took to the stage on the keys for a Sax battle against Montfort – the encounter was largely mess and noise, but certainly a lot of fun. Indeed, there was a very local, community feel to the night with support provided by Chapter Music’s Guy Blackman on keys and Joel Carey (of Wolf And Cub fame) on percussion.
Silliness continued with “Boys,” a kooky birds-and-the-bees type number that ended in Montfort’s announcement “This country’s f**ked!” While Hughes tried to convince the rest of the team that it was time to be ‘serious,’ their laconic nature was hard to kick – indeed, a serious show would probably not be a Dick Diver show anymore.
After praising the crowd’s support for battling the Sunday night struggles, Dick Diver ended the set with “Flying Instrumental Blues,” which saw Edwards and lead guitarist Alistair McKay ripping at their guitars for a thrilling instrumental end.
To the crowd’s enjoyment, the group returned for a quick encore, playing the melancholic reflection on gambling, “Keno.”
It’s clear why Dick Diver are finding so much success of late; they’re charismatic, sing everyday stories that resonate with their audience, and don’t take things too seriously. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact they’ll have outside this continent – if the Go-Betweens could do it, then maybe they can too.
