Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Live Review: PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED, HARMONY
The Palace, 11/04/2013
Harmony takes to the stage
before a half-full Palace, which is, as expected, mostly comprised of gentlemen
witness to the headliner’s last tour in 1989. More a variation of sonic forces
than a set of songs, the band’s excoriating blues and ferocious Australiana are
devastatingly effective. Always a tough act to follow (just ask anyone on day
two of Golden Plains 2012), the variety of textures and emotions Harmony span
within a song is impressive, and largely due to their imaginative musicianship,
and songs’ disorienting construction. Tom Lyngcoln's incendiary guitar work
remains determinedly economical for a man recently voted one of the Top 40
guitarists in this country’s history. Notes singe but never linger, chords
sound like a free jazz horn trio; it’s a disorienting, hellish perfection.
'Good
evening Melbourne,’ proclaims John Lydon, as Public Image Limited assemble. Dressed in an oversized plaid shirt
and resembling an exasperated chicken with his cockscomb hair, pulled in chin,
rotund tum and flapping arms, Lydon is on full power from the get go. His voice
powerful and evocative, the show is essentially about him and his concerns, and
we’re captivated. Technical brilliance was never a term associated with punk or
post-punk, but tonight Lydon makes a case for being one of the most overlooked vocal
talents in history. His lyrical acuity never questioned, he moves effortlessly
from the Muslim-call-to-prayer of opener Four
Enclosed Walls to the ensuing caustic fury of Albatross with its dark, suffocating locked groove. The band, made
up of talent from Slits, The Pop Group and The Spice Girls’ live band (no,
really), specialise in piercing guitar and tight, rolling rhythms, solidly
reinforcing Lydon as he wrestles truth. Highlights of the set come from their
classic Metal Box album and the
writing team of Lydon, Keith Levene and Jah Wobble. The phenomenal Swan Lake/Death Disco merges a subterranean
bassline, clustering shards of guitar and Lydon actually crying as he relates
the story of his mother’s death, which, sadly, could double for the passing of his
stepdaughter Ari Up another victim of cancer.
‘This
person’s had enough of useless memories!’ he later sneers, leading the band
through Memories, another arctic
blast from the past. Songs from 2012’s comeback This is PiL album stand up well; Deeper Waters, Reggie Song and the titanic dub of One Drop all show no drop in power or conviction.
Crowd involvement reaches a peak during This
is Not a Love Song (’Melbourne, show me your fucking dance moves. You need
more Aborigine’ he waspishly remarks). The barbing continues during Warrior; ‘Australia, are you a warrior?’
[Cheers]. Is this YOUR land?’ [Confused silence].
Always
needling, even when the rhythms are at their most danceable, Lydon leads us out
with a euphoric take on Theme, which ends
with on a resounding ‘good-BYE!’ Cheered back on, the set closes with Rise (‘WHAT is anger? / Anger is an en-er-gy!’) and a surprise revisiting of
Leftfield & Lydon’s banging 90s club anthem Open Up proving that whether aiming for the mind or body, Lydon knows
that the truth never misses.
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