Sydney Opera House
Tuesday October 2, 2018 :
The The were one of the most critically acclaimed and politically engaged bands of the 1980’s with such albums as Soul Mining and Infected. These are considered among the decade’s finest releases but for almost 20 years, Matt Johnson, the band’s founder, singer and songwriter, vanished from public view, refusing to write, record or perform. “I intentionally fell off the radar and disappeared from sight,” he says. Now, to the surprise and delight of fans, Johnson and The The are back with a Comeback Special (world tour) which included shows in Sydney and Melbourne (they last performed here in 1989). It is 18 years since he last toured and joked that you could fit The Beatles entire career nearly three times into that timeline. The now 56 year old East Londoner, added that he was heading back into a world that has drastically changed. Quoting Johnson recently “For this tour I wanted to strip down many of the songs and actually reduce the sonic palette. We won’t be using any samplers, click-tracks, sequencers or synthesizers. It’s just five musicians performing reinterpretations of my catalogue. The songs are not supposed to be reproductions of the album versions and many of them don’t sound like they do on the old recordings.”
Alongside Matt Johnson on these Australian shows are members from previous THE THE world tours; James Eller on bass (representing the ‘Versus The World’ tour) along with ‘new’ member Barrie Cadogan (Little Barrie) who respectively provided consistently compelling sounds with their twisting bass lines and red hot guitar riffs. DC Collard on keyboards (representing the ‘Lonely Planet’ tour). DC’s exceptional piano playing on ‘This is the Night’ and a swinging ‘Uncertain Smile’, along with his harmonica playing on ‘Dogs of Lust’ were accompaniment highlights. Veteran drummer, Geoff Dugmore took the stool behind the drums on this Australian leg of the tour. Another longtime The The collaborator, collage artist Vicki Bennett (aka People Like Us) who created the kaleidoscopic video installation for the tour.
The The opened the evening amongst low key lighting, setting the tone for the evening set list of experimental rock dance tracks. Matt Johnson took to the stage in a burgundy shirt and black pants, he stood behind not one, but three microphones, each creating different effects on his deep reach vocals which hauntingly recreated live his studio vocals. ‘Sweet Birth of Truth’, in keeping ‘The Beat(en) Generation’ is given a nocturnal swing treatment and ‘Armageddon Days are Here (again)’ had the Opera House on their feet. He ask of himself “What have I been doing for nearly 20 years?” to which he responded “Not much, after all the brooding and extraction there’s not much time for anything else“.
A trilogy of tracks from Dusk followed including a rambunctious ‘Dogs of Lust’ and ‘Lonely Planet’. Johnson explained that the set list would be heavy with Dusk album tracks as his older brother, illustrator Andy Dog, had recently passed away and the songs were written after his younger brother Eugene passed away in 1989. This is not the first time that a death in the family has influenced his song writing and stage presence. Johnson’s father passed away earlier this year whilst the band were en route to Stockholm, Sweden, and was quoted as saying “Unless you die young, you are bound to lose people“.
Matt Johnson’s velvety tonsils are more rock and soul than blue, and has even been compared to that of the late George Michael. Johnson may not have sung publicly for years and I’m sure there’s little doubt he’s been practising his scales in private. Johnson was quoted as saying back in 1993 “I like to think of The The as a fluid thing. People can work with me, then stop for a bit, then work again.” If the sudden death of his younger brother led to the end of The The, it was the death of his older brother that prompted Johnson to revive the band.
Who knows what the future will bring …
Reviewer and Photographer : Richard Hedger
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