There is a little know law in the world which states that any gig that somehow involves bright green novelty frisbees is a good gig.
Therefore, it follows that Pond at The Corner in Melbourne on Sunday was a good gig.
The psychedelic pop/rock band from Perth were blistering on Sunday night, as the Corner in Richmond struggled under the faceless mass invasion of printed, collared, buttoned up shirts.
Everyone there was cooler than me. I knew it.
Thankfully, it would not be an exaggeration to say that everyone there hero-worshipped the band, so the weird, uncool girl with normal hair, no piercings and a sensible coat was largely ignored.
They’re an interesting band, Pond – I can’t quite place them. Lauded by NME as their most exciting new band of recent times they certainly have legions of fans.
Anyone who has ever owned a ‘psychedelic’ record is having heart palpitations at the thought of them and this year, they’ve toured extensively around the US.
I enjoy their music too. A lot. I’m just confused.
Several times during the set, they would launch into this sonic-y, keys based intro (imagine if the Doctor Who theme and the entire Star Wars soundtrack had a misty, nerdy musical love child), and then, whilst I’m preparing to whip out my wizarding staff or sit through a musical ode to a mythical, mountain creature, they move straight on and the rest of the song sounds like an angry, louder early Kinks.
This is not where the 60s references cease either.
The lead vocalist and sometimes guitar/keys player, Nick Allbrook, just needs a sparkly skin tight suit, bigger lips and an on-again-off-again feud with his guitarist and he’d be Mick Jagger.I’m not even kidding.
Hands waving purposefully above his head, piercing looks into the audience and hips that are surely a health hazard, I was surprised he didn’t just go all out and do Jagger’s clappy, shoulder move. It was fantastic. Spectacle wise, it was brilliant.
The best bit being the obvious fact that the band members were having the best time ever.
One guy took off his shirt just because he could.
Another one was practicing his best ‘Blue Steel’ impressions on the audience and the bass guitarist probably wasn’t even aware that we were there, so enthusiastic were his ‘making-love-to-my-instrument’ movements.
They even had stage divers. That weren’t the band.
Two giant, skinny girls pushed ahead of me during the set, attempted to dance for a while in a fashion that they no doubt thought was alluring and then disappeared – only to run on from offstage squealing and launch themselves into the crowd.Another guy jumped up on stage, danced with so much reverence that it appeared he was in the rock equivalent of a church and then was unceremoniously dropped when he had paid his respects.
Apart from these entertaining antics, the music was solid and intriguing the whole time.
Their recent single ‘Moth Wings’ with it’s genius bass line and Beck-like falsetto was pretty much impossible not to dance like a slightly sexy maniac to, and when the songs kicked in, the guitar was face-melting.
At one stage, the noise was such that I almost felt sick. But that may have also been because I saw a guy with half a shaved head and a comb over.
I had a rudimentary measuring system to grade the music. It was called ‘The Head-Bang-o-meter’.
A blonde, pasty guy in a (you guessed it) buttoned up, collared Hawaiian shirt would move his head around with vigour if it was a good song, and would decrease this vigour if a song started that he was less fond of. Or if it was slow.
Unfortunately for him, he was quite a big fan of Pond, so his head was going crazy for the entire hour, only slowing down twice for the two slow songs they performed.
So that’s what you get from a Pond gig – frisbees, stage divers, pleasant musical confusion and a trip to the chiropractor.
What can I say? It was a good gig.
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