Live Review: Big Scary, Dreller

Sydney multi-instrumentalist and former Papa Vs Pretty frontman Thomas Rawle possesses a manic energy this evening. He opens the night with his warped brand of psychedelic music under new performance name, Dreller.

“It’s a cross between Cinderella and Dracula,” Rawle explains. He twitches and trashes behind his guitar during the glitchy rhymes of singles A Signal That Comes Back and Control, shredding power chords like cheddar cheese. The dynamics of the set are all over the place, the frenzied energy of the performance remaining the only constant amid flurries of electronic sounds. He exits the stage after an ethereal finish, leaving us feeling like we’re not quite sure what we just witnessed, but that we definitely liked it.

It’s the first night of Melbourne band Big Scary’s first headline tour in three years and the pair have brought something special. They’re playing as an expanded line-up, with the usual duo of Tom Iansek and Jo Syme supported by saxophonist Gus Rigby, percussionist Christopher Port, and Ted O’Neil on bass guitar. However, it seems unfair to describe these musicians’ roles so succinctly, as the former two switch between multiple instruments throughout the night.

The five-piece open with the sinister sounds of Oxygen, Iansek looking devilish in a brown suit with a black silk shirt underneath. “It’s strictly physical, our bodies on the line,” he sings. The group’s latest album, Animal, is a departure from the safer sounds of their first few records and finds the band exploring more rhythmic sensibilities. Organism creeps up next, Rigby’s saxophone filling the room with the sound of a full horn section.

The band treat the crowd to a few older favourites with Luck Now and Belgian Blues before returning to the Animal tracklist for Double Darkness. However, they experience some technical difficulties afterwards, forcing Iansek and Syme to perform Bad Friends while waiting for the issue to be resolved. It’s a shame to lose the momentum, but they return to their setlist with Savior Add Vice and Lone Bird.

Their next few songs make for a high point of the night, adhering to the mantra from The Endless Story, “Too much of anything’s boring”. The Opposite Of Us, Flutism, and Up And Up And Up flit between genres and styles, bringing the night to colourful conclusion before the band exit the stage.

It’s hard to imagine how they could follow up such a playful final few songs with an encore, but the group are welcomed back onto the stage for more soon afterwards. They give us some closure on the Animal tracklist, performing the floating Over Matter to a hushed crowd. However, it’s closer Twin Rivers that has the audience rejoicing. “This is my idea of fun,” Iansek sings. Thankfully, it’s ours too.