THE CHURCH – THE PALAIS THEATRE – MELBOURNE – 28.11.2024
REVIEW: CRAIG ERIKSSON. PHOTOS: DAVID HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY
I don’t know what’s in the water, but lately we have been blessed with a number of iconic Aussie bands celebrating significant and remarkable anniversaries and milestones. Cold Chisel, Hoodoo Gurus, Grinspoon, Spiderbait, Radio Birdman, The Angels, Karnivool, Cog, The Butterfly Effect, Mark of Cain, Custard and The Johnnys just to name a few.
Tonight it was Aussie psychedelic rock band The Church’s time to join the bandwagon and celebrate their music as part of The Already Yesterday tour. They played for over 2 ½ hours, an incredible 2 sets consisting of 26 songs from their first four albums –
Of Skins and Heart (1981)
The Blurred Crusade (1982)
Séance (1983)
Heyday (1986)
Greg Phillips from Australian Musician promoted the ‘Already Yesterday’ Tour and provided a background on each of these 4 albums (20 May 2024) – link
The Church formed back in 1980 and are from Sydney, Australia. Throughout the decades, The Church has managed to survive and thrive through many musical eras and trends, line-up changes, hiatuses and drug problems and remain musically current to this present day. I started following this band back in the early 80’s when I first heard The Unguarded Moment and I have seen them live countless times over the past 40 years. The last time I saw The Church was at the St Kilda Festival back in 2021 and this outdoor concert reminded me of just how many wonderful timeless songs The Church have released.
The Palais Theatre in Melbourne was packed tonight and it was like a heatwave inside the theatre, but that didn’t deter fans from enjoying this special show. The Church transported “the congregation” on a trippy psychedelic trance, launching us out of the Palais and taking us to another stratosphere.
Listening to their music tonight, their songs crossover from Alt-rock, psychedelic post-rock, dream pop, new wave with some experimental Indie rock blended into the mix. Many of them are multi-layered, thought provoking songs with varied textures, creating an atmospheric hypnotic sound of weaving guitars, drums. This was achieved tonight by having 4 guitarists and two drummers with Powles also playing percussion and Cain alternating between guitar and keys.
The 6-piece band:
Steve Kilbey – bassist, vocalist and now the only original founding member remaining
TimEbandit Powles – drums, percussion, long-time collaborator & producer since 1994
Ian Haug – guitarist, backing vocals (formerly of Powderfinger who joined the band in 2013)
Jeffrey Cain (Remy Zero) – Keyboards, guitar, backing vocals, multi-instrumentalist
Nicholas Meredith – Drums (touring drummer)
Ash Naylor – Guitars, backing vocals (long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band and one of Australia’s finest and most respected guitarists (Even, The Grapes, The Stems). Naylor joined The Church in 2020).
The Church opened with WHEN YOU WERE MINE from The Blurred Crusade (1982) which was their 2nd studio album. This song contains heavy guitar riffs by all 4 guitarists, rolling drums and Kilbey’s distinctive vocals. Strobe lights flashed over the stage and out into the audience throughout the song creating an atmospheric vibe. They played 8 songs from The Blurred Crusade (1982) which indicated this was the most popular album of the four – LIFE SPEEDS UP (Kilbey dedicated this song to Helen Thomas, a long-time fan who had recently passed away); JUST FOR YOU; ALMOST WITH YOU; YOU TOOK, SECRET CORNERS; AN INTERLUDE and DON’T LOOK BACK.
ALMOST WITH YOU was definitely the crowd favourite in Set 1 with the audience singing along in a jovial manner and it was an opportunity to get up out of our seats and stretch our legs and vocal chords.
TEAR IT ALL AWAY from debut album Of Skins and Heart (1981) was the 2nd song of Set 1 with its New Wave sound and powerful lyrics. They sang 6-songs from Of Skins and Heart (1981): BEL-AIR; SHE NEVER SAID; IS THIS WHERE YOU LIVE; FOR A MOMENT WE’RE STRANGERS and the crowd favourite THE UNGUARDED MOMENT was performed in Set 2. Music is the soundtrack to our lives and I clearly recall when The Unguarded Moment was released. I was 15-years old and was on holiday in Tasmania with my mate, Gaz. This song has always remained warm to my heart and looking around the theatre, I’m sure many fans would have their own personal story about what this song means to them.
ALREADY YESTERDAY from Heyday (1986) was the 3rd song in Set 1. They sang 5-songs from Heyday (1986): IT DOESN’T CHANGE; MYRRH; TRISTESSE and TANTALISED. The crowd leapt up out of their seats to Tantalised and started dancing and rocking out in the aisles.
They played 6-songs from the timeless album Séance (1983) – DISAPPEAR? FLY; ONE DAY; ELECTRIC LASH; IT’S NO REASON; TRAVEL BY THOUGHT. Kilbey talked about his love for Melbourne and said the song Disappear? was written in South Melbourne.
There were only a few downsides to the evening. 1/ The Balance. The band are an incredibly tightknit group of talented musicians, however having 4 guitarists created a wall of sound that drowned out and blended Kilbeys vocals into the music, making it difficult at times to hear what he was singing (an issue we’ve come across countless times at this venue with loud rock bands). 2/ Connection. By the band playing psychedelic trance, each member excelled with their instrument but did not interact with each other on stage or the audience. 3/ Omission of COLUMBUS and METROPOLIS that they sang a few nights earlier at The Enmore in Sydney.
When they came out for the encore, the crowd erupted as they launched into UNDER THE MILKY WAY from Starfish (1988) and everyone sang along and danced in the aisles. You couldn’t hear the backing harmonies by the other band members but the crowd well and truly made up for it. Under The Milky Way has been one of my all-time favourite songs throughout my lifetime and every time I hear it played live, fuels my soul.
Overall, it was a wonderful celebration of The Church’s first four albums and with the current stellar line-up, I’m excited about what will come next.
THE SET LIST:
Set 1:
When You Were Mine
Tear It All Away
Already Yesterday
Bel-Air
Life Speeds Up (dedicated to Helen Thomas, a long-time fan who had recently passed away)
Just For You
Disappear?
Fly
One Day
Electric Lash
She Never Said
Almost With You
You Took
Set 2:
It Doesn’t Change
Myrrh
Secret Corners
Tristesse
Is This Where You Live
It’s No Reason
Travel by Thought
For A Moment We’re Strangers
An Interlude
The Unguarded Moment
Tantalised
Don’t Look Back
Encore:
Under The Milky Way – Starfish 1988
