The Avalanches’ Return To Australian Stage Falls Flat

Those lucky enough to secure tickets to the pre-party at The Northern gather as close to the stage as possible for a sneak preview of The Avalanches.

We've had to hand our phones over in exchange for a numbered wristband, mobiles put into mini canvas bags (with Wildflower emblem) numbered correspondingly. There's a clear message here that tonight's a warm-up gig and we all wonder whether it'll be good or shit.

An extremely minimal, chill version of Australian Crawl's Reckless doesn't really heighten excitement levels. Spank Rock, sporting an impressive 'fro, and the golden-piped Eliza Wolfgramm remain onstage at all times for vocal duties. While Wolfgramm performs centre stage, someone down the front throws a hoody over her face. She deals with it well, pretending she finds this humorous, but, seriously, what's wrong with punters these days? 

There's a sense that everyone's waiting for the drop. We bop along to Subways, but it's not really until Frankie Sinatra that the venue erupts. However, Spank Rock reads lyrics from his phone during this highlight track, which reminds us ours have been confiscated at the door. Hopefully he'll prioritise memorising these lyrics by tonight, because he appears to lose them on his phone screen and fucks up at one point. 

We're disappointed when the ridiculously awesome Frontier Psychiatry is mashed up with Gnarls Barkley's Crazy - that song is strong enough to stand alone. Bliss bombs explode throughout The Northern when Since I Left You reminds us why we're all so intrigued by this outfit. A Madonna sample nudges in and we're unsure as to whether this is care of The Avalanches or the follow-up DJ, but make a break for it to retrieve our phones. The good bits were good, the shit bits were shit. But we'll treasure the souvenir Wildflower phone bag all the same.