by Christian Brimo

Though they occasionally flirt with pop success Magic Dirt are, at heart, a rock and roll band. This was obvious at their Annandale show last Friday when they treated the sold-out crowd to an hour of distortion, feedback, and barely controlled chaos. Adalita anchored it all, yelping her way through classics like ‘All My Crushes’ and Scientists cover ‘We Had Love’. ‘White Boy’, a sexed-up rant that sounded like Joan Jett looks, was the best of the new songs though eventually everything blended into one joyous wall of noise. There was a bit of Patti Smith in the show, though it was a Patti Smith stripped of any poetry and pretension – just pure passion. The crowd ate it up and the band responded, throwing in old tracks and rarities. I didn’t know all the history but I appreciated it – this was a band unafraid of its past and committed to rocking out until their fingers bled.  According to Adalita Magic Dirt first played the Annandale in 1993 and though some might wonder why they don’t move on to bigger venues nobody, band or crowd, seemed to care.

The venue was packed for second support redsunband, a fixture on the Sydney scene. I’ve seen them play half a dozen times and despite a change of drummer their sound remained unchanged. The walls of feedback and drone never went anywhere interesting, though a few songs did threaten to break out of the aural mush. Early hit ‘Sleep Forever’ made an appearance and it nicely sums up the experience of listening to redsunband – whether you’re watching them at your local pub or at a huge festival you will drift off and dream of better bands.

Sydney’s favorite noise punks The Dead Farmers opened the night in their typical fashion, blasting out any lingering workday cobwebs and getting my ears ready for total sonic destruction. They’re the perfect opening act and an essential addition to any noise bill – loud, fast, and fun.

Comic relief was provided by Jimmy and the Orange Gun, who played between sets in the Annandale’s front bar. Sporting a total of 3 mullets and one U2 shirts these guys opened for the version of Magic Dirt that plays ‘Plastic Loveless Letter’ to suburban moms. At the ‘dale their sub-Creed caterwauling was mostly ignored.

Final tally: one awesome band, one fun band, one boring band and one hilarious band. Drinks were drank, arms were thrown around strangers, and my ears were still ringing on Saturday.  Thanks, Magic Dirt, for soundtracking a perfect Friday night.