The astonishing ceiling at the venerable Marrickville Bowling Club is like an additional support act: clearly designed by some walrus mustachioed designer in velvet fares in the seventies while ingesting some sort of illicit chemical. And tonight, nostalgia isn’t quite what it uses to be.
It’s been a long wait for me since The Crystal Set emerged from the heavens after a thirty-odd year hiatus – storms in Queensland meant a wasted trip for me to Sydney when their gig at this venue with the Ups & Downs was postponed last year. I’ll pass over clichés about how the wait was worth it as the following review will make that abundantly clear.
First support for evening was music from the contemporary generation – Postcards from Pluto, a band who has featured heavily in our pages as one of the most exciting up and coming antipodean bands. A number of jokes were made throughout the evening on the topic of nepotism – Logan Kilbey’s dad being Russell Kilbey from the headliner. Based on the dictionary definition of the word, it couldn’t be further from the truth, all jokes aside. Merit alone justified their presence.
They put on a blistering performance – cocky, assured, tight and visceral. And while Logan Kilbey has the rock star looks, the enigma and presence of a natural front person, the rest of the band weren’t there as a mere support. Will Palmer’s excoriating guitar playing, backing vocals and general presence were electrifying. On bass, Rory Moylan supplied endless energy and enthusiasm to her thumping melodic play. New drummer Matina Chang, replete in cool shades and who had only first played live with the band a matter of weeks ago, put on an extraordinary display that belied her diminutive figure. Powerful and bold, rock steady and assured. Recent single ‘Chocolate’ (reviewed by me here) sounded even more lascivious in the flesh.
This is a band that deserves to go somewhere – effortlessly translating brillant recordings into a dynamic, immersive live show.
With the dark angular punk of Postcards from Pluto as a taster and the promise of the shimmering sounds of The Crystal Set yet to come, the presence of Alannah Russack (The Hummingbirds, Aerial Maps,The Entropy Band) provided a beam of iridescent light that outshone the ceiling for attention. Her distinctive vocals and expressive delivery silenced even the most irritating yappers in the crowd; pure and velvet, yearning.
Her presence has been sorely missed since her solo album ‘As Memories Pass’ with The Entropy Band back in 2022 and her perfomance tonight was electrifying, laced with humour and melancholy. Her nod to her past, a mesmerising rendition of The Hummingbird’s classic ‘Alimony’ was briefly interrupted as she laughed and acknowledged an audience member holding aloft a mobile phone flame. She ended with the poignant, moving ‘Places You Love’.
Two original members of The Crystal Set remain from the late eighties/early nineties line up – Russell Kilbey and Phil Maher – and the new line up consists of a who’s who of indie rock – Murray Cook (Midnight Oil, The Warumpi Band) on guitars and keys, Robbie Warren (Died Pretty, Lodestar) on bass and Rudi Weber (Post-Life Disorder, Fat) on drums, with all supplying magnificent backing vocals.
The Crystal Set delivered a magnificent set that clearly illustrated the number of musical gems they released in their short early life. Songs like ‘Thrive’, ‘Spring Suicide, ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ and ‘Drop in the Ocean’ sounded as anthemic and fresh as ever, creating genuine sing along moments for the enthusiastic crowd.
The band were tight, enthused and gave a mesmerising performance – Cook swapping instruments with aplomb, Weber and Warren in lockstep and Maher’s guitars brilliant. Kilbey’s acoustic guitar added that special shimmer.
Kilbey’s vocals were extraordinary live – ranging from one number with a lounge singer timbre to another with a gorgeous tenor. His presence was magnetic, his delivery assured, constantly laced with humour.
The full band harmonies lifted a number of the songs, adding a superb finesse to the anthemic choruses.
The band left the best of the best to last in the quasi encore (it’s hard to do a dramatic encore when there’s no backstage). On ‘She Spits Out Stars, Kilbey was joined by his sons Logan and Marlon (Chute) with a thrilling rendition of one of the best songs of that era, sending shivers down the spine. A cataclysmic delivery made all the sweeter by the sight of a father and his sons so joyously delivering the vocals with some cool synchronised dance movements added.
Then as finale, the band did their cover of the Lighthouse Keepers classic ‘Gargoyle’ – which Kilby self-deprecatingly noted the writer of the track deemed to be the best version ever done of the song, albeit the only one. Russack was dragged in from what I presumed was the merch desk outside to sing along with Kilbey and it was a stunning and fitting end to an extraordinary night.
I discussed the evening with another music writer afterwards and the comment was made that if this was in the UK, The Crystal Set would be playing in a much larger venue to much larger crowds. Suffice to say it was a privilege to witness such a gig under the auspices of a psychosis inducing ceiling of the Marrickville Bowling Club.
The band returns to play at the Burdekin Hotel in Sydney December – keep an eye out in their socials for more details. In the meantime – catch them as they finish off this special East Coast tour with special support – details below.
Tour details:
Feature Photograph and Gallery: Arun Kendall
