:: The Drones - Corner Hotel, Richmond - April 2009

By: Sabine Brix

The Corner was packed well before the Drones came on stage. Local band Witch Hats delivered with their own brand of screamo rock and were going to be a hard band to beat, energy-wise and melodically, unfortunately there was none of their merchandise on offer for punters. Kev Carmody’s humour warmed everyone up for The Drones, his banter often eliciting fits of laughter from the audience, joking that he really should get electronical, musing at his lone acoustic guitar amongst all the other equipment which was set up on stage.

A sea of people welcomed The Drones, who started their set with Nail It Down from their most recent album Havilah. As the set progressed it became evident as to lead singer Gareth’s intoxication, mumbling incoherently between songs. Heckles from the crowd were often addressed at bassist Fiona, who curiously had turned herself around for the majority of the set, preferring to face the band’s drummer instead of the audience. This, obviously, intriguing particular first-time Drones’ concert goers, who could be heard discussing whether she was ‘hot’, but were having difficulty seeing, both because of her stage position and the unfortunate number of tall people in the crowd.

The crowd reaction was mixed, with obvious die-hards flailing themselves around the front of the stage. Others seemed to wait for instrumental breaks in which to really get into the swing of things, which was interesting because of the often-disjointed nature of songs, which seemed to deviate between structures of noise and more conventional song structure breakdowns.

Singer Gareth’s, engaging energy and passionate lyrical delivery, with hints of ferocity were, without a doubt, the selling point of the band during this particular performance however the bass player’s refusal to face the crowd and engage with fans was a definite disappointment of the evening.