Live Review: Wire, Constant Mongrel, The Stevens

Melbourne's The Stevens get off to a flying start with their melodic indie-pop jangles that eventually drift into droning shoegaze. The live versions of their songs are satisfyingly longer than the short, sharp, three-minute songs they put down on their epic, 24-song debut A History Of Hygiene. The Stevens wear their influences on their sleeves and on so many levels it's fitting that they should find themselves supporting Wire.

As Constant Mongrel start to play, they move beyond the puerile to dish their tough, heavy sound. The group's angular tunes take us back to the late '70s and very early '80s as they oscillate between influences like PiL, Gang Of Four and Wire. They even have a saxophone player, wearing the obligatory dark sunglasses, who blasts out the occasional discordant sax solo. Constant Mongrel have learned how to tame noise into edgy rock and Tom Ridgeway's somewhat bored and angsty vocals complete their nasty, post-punk picture.

The truly seminal Wire emerged from the snotty-nosed punk revolution circa '76 in the UK and, as punk quickly lost steam, the group contributed significantly to the subsequent post-punk stampede. Their set starts with an experimental synth soundscape and they keep us waiting before Corner Hotel's curtains are pulled back to reveal Wire playing Marooned – a song that featured on Missing Chairs, which was released in '78. It has us guessing whether Wire will indulge older fans with some blasts from the past. Despite the pleas from one fan for Mr Suit, Colin Newman makes it clear that Wire don't do requests and that they are in no mood for any kind of nostalgia. They quickly fast forward almost 30 years into the future with the eerie, Burroughs-esque spoken word piece 23 Years Too Late. Another The Letter elicits cheers of recognition from the crowd, but the rest of the gig is a showcase of their latest album Change Becomes Us with occasional detours into their comeback album Send and some unreleased new material.

Good musicians only get better with time and, playing with a precise tightness, Wire are still at the top of their game. The dark atmospheric swells of their music are punctuated with ultraviolent machine-gun blasts of angsty, driving punk. New tunes such as the completely mind-melting Harpooned leave us wishing their new album were out already. The more straightforward fervent punk of Comet and Spent incite ageing fans to pogo, just one more time.