The Dirty Three at the Spanish Club

The Dirty Three

The night is best summed up by saying that I learned you can play a violin by screaming into it. I had heard the reputation that the Dirty Three has live, but this is the first time I had seen them.

With all the people talking about venues closing down, some new venues have been overlooked. The St Kilda Bowling Club is one and another is the Spanish Club in Fitzroy, which has been having some good gigs recently.

Before the show I had some Spanish Chorizo and potato which was nice. If I am able to go there again with a few people I would like to get the full Paella spread which looked great. The bar service is good also.

I hadn't seen The Young Professionals for a couple of years, so I was looking forward to seeing how they go on the night. There weren't many people in the room when they were playing, but I thought they went really well, especially during their last song where they thrashed around and threw stuff off the stage. Naturally I ended up taking the most photos of them on the night as they were very pretty to look at.

The Crayon Fields are interesting as you don't see many bands with both a xylophone and il guiro for percussion amongst many other instruments. One of the guitar players also doubled up on the xylophone and the other played the keyboards also. I thought the lead singer looked about the Bedroom Philosopher, but it must have just been the light.

Everyone decided to come down the front for the Dirty Three, so I ended up a bit further back near the right hand speaker. It was still a great spot as there were a lot of people who came later and ended up at the back.

I can't really describe how the Dirty Three played as you really have to see it yourself. I liked seeing Warren Ellis play the violin like a guitar and kicking while he was playing. Also he played some parts rolling on the floor.

The night also provided the definitive answer from Warren Ellis as to what happened to Fred Negro's pants. Warren said they ended up rotten after being on his brother's porch for a year, but if Fred sends in his size, Warren will send back two pairs - on the proviso they are surrealist pants (with pockets behind the knees.) Alright Peter is the one who yelled that question out before the encore.

Some extra entertainment for the night was provided by Warren's introductions to each song. I only have one of their albums (Horse Stories), so it was good to hear the explanations behind each song. At the end of the night I also picked up another CD (LIVE! At Meredith 2004) which is great.

The Dirty Three are only playing three gigs in Melbourne this time, but they will be coming back in June. Hopefully I will be able to go with some friends next time.