The Fumes - Gaelic Club, Sydney (6th Nov 2009)

Back from a string of US dates, Sydney duo The Fumes kicked off their Australian tour at Sydney’s Gaelic Club for a live filming and recording. Soulshine popped in for the night to witness the action.

The Gaelic Club is one of my favourite venues in Sydney. Sitting minutes from Sydney’s Central station and boasting a spacious floor full of vantage points and a wide-reaching bar, it’s almost the perfect place to watch music. Of course, when the music in question is good…or in this case, really friggin good…then the qualities of the venue compound several-fold. So does a generous pay packet on the preceding Thursday - encouraging a few extra visits to the bar - and an overall enthused crowd spurred on by the cameras stalking their every move in accordance with the filming of the gig. What The Fumes bring to the table is a focused shambles of Blues-rock mastery…a sound produced by two guitars and a drum kit. Collate all these factors and you have yourself one hell of a night in the making.

Before reading this live review please beware; The Fumes make me giddy. Their latest album ‘Sundancer’ and the few festival sets I’ve seen over the years makes me very prone to the use of slightly exaggerated superlatives in reference to the band. I think it’s justified, but it may well be lust induced. End Public Service Announcement.

The Fumes kick off their set with a brief solo ditty before breaking into what has to be one of the most high-powered, gritty, body-surging tracks of the last five years (warned you) in the form of ‘Automobile.’ Immediately, the once tame crowd is transformed into a pulsing mass…riding every bass drum thump and the mess of distorted guitar. It begins with a slam and continues on that way, tracing a path through their debut album ‘Guns of Gold’ and the splendid follow-up ‘Sundancer.’ Tracks like ‘The Letter’ and ‘Python for a Pillow’ again stir the audience into movement and provide for a whole list of highlights that make up The Fumes set. They cross through what I will steadfastly argue to be the finest Australian track of 2009, ‘High City Lights,’ back through the psychedelic marathon ‘Seven Year Itch’ and off to finish their set with the dirty, gasoline soaked ballad ‘Sundancer.’

With decibel-laden reverb soaking the Gaelic at the end of the set causing a plethora of blocked ears, the Fumes return for a much appreciated encore bringing the same amount of power and raucousness delivered by the first half of the set, finishing off with a Dinosaur Jr cover; no doubt inspired by the eagerness surrounding the return of the 90’s legends to Australian shores in 2010.

The Fumes never fail to satisfy. If you were to work hard enough to find a criticism of their live show, it’s that the only way to enjoy it is up front in the thick of it…it’s just not the same up back in the bar line. The Fumes are a fistful of grunged blues-guitar, taking the best aspects of rock, indie and country, whacking up the distortion on a steel-bodied resonator and beating the shit out of a set of drums. They are everything you expect from a night out on the cans and everything that one should be. As the Fumes cross the country on yet another tour, be sure to get your arse into gear and through the doors of the closest venue that host them this Summer. There’s a Soulshine guarantee on you having a blast.

The Fumes Australian tour continues through to the New Year with the following dates:

6th November
The Gaelic Theatre
Sydney, NSW

7th November
Freshly Plucked Festival
Orange, NSW

13th November
Ding Dong Lounge
Melbourne, VIC

28th November
That Festival
Cabarita, NSW

3rd December
Indi Bar
Perth, WA

4th December
Royal Palms Resort
Busselton, WA

5th December
Amplifier Bar
Perth, WA

6th December
Norfolk Basement Bar
Fremantle, WA