Review and photos: Craig Eriksson
South Australian rockers Bad//Dreems tore up The Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy last night as they celebrated the 10th Anniversary of their debut album Dogs At Bay. It was a sold out show and it seemed that every fan in this small venue wanted to be as close to the stage as possible, pushing and shoving their way up front for a prime spot.
The Dogs At Bay album features 12 songs, which Bad//Dreems played in its entirety and in track order. This album was produced by Mark Opitz (Cold Chisel, INXS, The Angels, The Divinyls) and you can certainly hear the strong connection and influence in the music. The songs have a raw sound and capture stories of Australian life (especially growing up in Adelaide) with these working-class Australian pub rock anthems.
Opening with NEW BOYS, the intro is driven by strong bass and drums and then the chugging riffs and gritty guitars kick in. This energy built as lead singer, Ben Marwe strolls out on stage with a certain swagger, acknowledges the crowd and then rips into the song with such intensity, as he sings: “the money will roll right in and the guitars will roll on.”
The hard-hitting, piercingly loud CUFFED & COLLARED followed and is a killer song. Marwe punches out this anthem-like song with his raw vocals and with intensity. It got pretty wild and crazy in the mosh pit. Fans were ‘goin off’, fist punching the air, body slamming each other and singing back at Marwe at the top of their lungs.
Two songs in and we knew we were in for a cracking set and something special as the vibe in the bandroom felt like we were caught in the middle of a riot. It was fun, exhilarating and frantic.
This raw energy carried throughout most of the set as they led into BOGAN PRIDE. The aggressive drumming and guitar work on this song kept the intensity up. During this song, more fans pushed their way towards the front wanting to get into the action, making the sweaty mosh pit increase in size to literally half the bandroom.
The ferocity took a break as Marwe played acoustic guitar on several songs, such as the slow burning MY ONLY FRIEND giving fans a short rest. It’s a ballad about a relationship break-up, the heartache of losing not only your partner but also your only friend with lyrics: “Used to love her, now its fucked.”
Nitida Atkinson from Don’t Thank Me Spank Me (DTMSM) joined them on stage for several of the slower, more poignant songs from the album, playing keyboards and providing backing vocals.
The band is quite unassuming on stage, focusing on their instruments and leaving frontman Marwe to engage with the audience. Towards the end of their set Wells ventured down into the mosh pit, playing his rhythm guitar amongst the fans for one song.
As they worked their way through Dogs at Bay, you realise the album is jam-packed with quality and no fillers. HIDING TO NOTHING saw the band ramp things up. The song is about the frustration of growing up in a small rural town. NADEN and DUMB IDEAS were crowd favourites too. HUME featured a stellar guitar solo from Alex Cameron. GHOST GUMS and PARADISE showcased Marwe’s vocals in a different light and sounded a bit like Paul Kelly meets Joy Division. BLOOD IN MY EYES slowed things down again and Marwe’s raw vocals shone on this song of heartbreak. Finally SACRED GROUND finished their Dogs at Bay set.
Check out Australian Musician’s Bad//Dreems: The ‘Dogs At Bay’ Interview – 24 August 2015, which provides a good insight to the album.
One thing that was noticeable throughout the evening was that fans knew every word to every single song and you could see that this album has had a huge impact and influence on their lives.
Bad//Dreems played a few fan favourites at the end of the evening with GUTFUL and MOB RULE from the Gutful (2017). The show concluded with JACK and SEE YOU TOMORROW from Hoo Ha! (2023). I can see Bad//Dreems Dogs at Bay album forming part of my ever-growing collection of favourite Australian albums.
A special shout out to the two Supports – Goldminds and The Pretty Littles that both played killer sets.
Bad//Dreems members:
Ben Marwe – Lead singer/acoustic guitar
Alex Cameron – Lead Guitar / backing vocals
Miles Wilson – Drums
Ali Wells – Rhythm Guitar / backing vocals
Deon Slaviero – Bass
SET LIST:
NEW BOYS
CUFFED & COLLARED
BOGAN PRIDE
MY ONLY FRIEND
HIDING TO NOTHING
NADEN
HUME
DUMB IDEAS
GHOST GUMS
PARADISE
BLOOD IN MY EYES
SACRED GROUND
GUTFUL
JACK
MOB RULESEE YOU TOMORROW