Augie March - Watch Me Set My Strange Sun You Bloody Choir Tour
The Forum, Melbourne, 29 August 2009
Supported by Dan Luscombe and Gareth Liddiard of The Drones, Augie March filled the Forum Theatre in Melbourne with brooding soulful tunes for what the band has called "the last tour for a long, long time".
Couples as far as the eye could see, through a cloud of smoke coming from the backstage dry ice machines, filled the theatre on this cold Saturday night. This warm atmosphere (and possibly the gasses from the smoke machines) made for a very chilled-out vibe which created an intimate ambience before the support even stepped on stage.
When Dan Luscombe and Gareth Liddiard took to the stage there was a conservative uproar of applause from the masses. Liddiard addressed the crowd with prowess while simultaneously tuning his guitar, which had apparently gone overlooked by the roadies in their two-hour tuning session before.
Emotional, heartfelt, painful, anguished - these are all words that come into my head when Liddiard sings. His powerful lyrics and voice grabbed everyone in the audience by their spine and held them down with paralytic effects. Accompanied by Luscombe he put on a performance that people would be remembering for a long time.
Shortly after his set had finished there was a change in the audience. People became quiet. Everyone walked around with caution. They were still absorbing the impact of Liddiard and his unique voice, lyrics and stage presence. Time passed quickly at this point and in what seemed like minutes, Glenn Richards, lead singer for Augie March, had taken the stage.
With his band of interchanging members, Richards stole the stage and commanded a magnificent presence. He played a range of songs from all four of his albums showing his diverse talent and range. Switching between the brooding tones of their first album Sunset Studies to the upbeat folksy Watch me Disappear, Richards showed the audience why the song "One Crowded Hour" was recently voted number 59 of all time in a radio countdown by the people of Australia.
When this highly emotive song was finally played the crowd reached an emotional peak with many a tear being shed, couples embracing and photographers pausing for a moment to reflect on the beauty being presented to them.
The night combined the sounds of all four Augie March albums and cleverly contrasted their smooth tones with that of Gareth Liddiard to create a show that should resonate in the concert hall of the Forum theatre for some time.
4 out of 5
