Pierce BrothersPost-Mumford & Sons-style music has arrived. Exhibit a) Woodlock are still pretty green, but their enthusiasm and obvious gratitude prove endearing.
Kiwi brothers Ezekiel and Zechariah Walters do their thing, but it’s hard to drag your eyes away from beaming percussionist Bowen Purcell who sports a Pierce Brothers T-shirt to express his appreciation of tonight’s headliners.
From the get-go, exhibit b) Pierce Brothers go off like a frog in a honking sock. Let’s face it; we’ve come to see the ambidextrous, multi-instrumentalist ‘didge in one hand, harmonica in the other (in lieu of holder) for your bro’ move, which is so regularly documented in photos of Pierce Brothers live. And we don’t have to wait too long for it. The crowd goes wild and smartphones are raised to document the action. Jack Pierce (percussionist) is the chatty one and his sticks go everywhere; he even taps out beats on the body of his brother Pat’s guitar. At times the vocals could be less harsh during the Overdose chorus, but Pierce Brothers play their biggest headline show to date this evening so can be excused.
Pierce Brothers claim they haven’t prepped the cover they’re about to perform, but this simply can’t be true. Their take on MGMT’s Kids is dazzling and, even when the catchy keys melody is sung (the crowd joining in with the “Dede-dede...” bits), it doesn’t grate. This becomes a mash-up when Alice Cooper’s Poison barnstorms the arrangement. Then the brothers overlap the choruses of these two songs, singing them at the same time, and it sounds magical! They admit to being fans of John Butler Trio and the amount of dreadlocks in the venue suggests they’re not alone. The one without the dreads (Jack) whips his hair back and forth (thanks, Willow Smith) before reaching around from behind his brother to provide an extra set of arms on the fretboard. At this song’s conclusion Jack enquires, “Does anyone have a hair tie?” and retrieves one from the audience, adding, “I washed it especially for tonight.” Patrick contributes with a laugh, “People shouldn’t be impressed by just hygiene.” One excellent track starts off sounding like the Bonanza theme song. “This is the best job in the world,” Jack praises, adding that’s because the sibling duo get to be on stage “all cocky and stuff, ‘Hey everyone get a load of me!’”
The pair leave the stage, but we’re far from satisfied. Their encore commences with the prophetic Golden Times, which Patrick starts off solo while his brother negotiates a hand-held confetti cannon (and there are no prizes for guessing what colour ticker tape it detonates). This song also utilises aforementioned multi-tasking musician formation when didge and harmonica are both required. “I’m a massive fucking egomaniac,” Jack acknowledges. Adorably, Pierce Brothers thank the sound guy as well as backstage staff. Patrick tells us they’re heading off to Europe “’cause things are going a bit mental” and then both support acts (Tash Sultana, we unfortunately missed) are invited on stage to ‘help’ perform their closing track. Purcell, Woodlock’s drummer, looks fit to burst. Another batch of multi-coloured ticker tape plus streamers are released while we all clap along and go ballistic.
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You could potentially sing over most Pierce Brothers songs, but with their talent and likeability this band of brothers is destined for main stage slots at festivals worldwide.
