25 April 2024 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words and pictures by Bec Harbour
When the Dandy Warhols announced that they’d be touring for their latest album Rockmaker, I was very keen to see them again, their last visit only being in 2022 supporting the Hoodoo Gurus, it’s probably about 7th or 8th time I’ve seen them and I never get sick of them.
The support act Magic Band were a nice little surf-psych intro for the evening, kicking off with ‘Pieces of My Brain’ and finishing up with ‘Horror Movie’ – it looked like it was going to be night of bands with minimal movement tonight.
Magic Machine – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
With a reasonably long gap between sets, there were a few false starts where the crowd got excited that the Dandy Warhols were going to start early (in the multiple times that I have seen them, they have never been on time).
The Dandy Warhols have never been ones for coming on stage with pomp and ceremony, they arrived quietly just after 9.30 and took their places, with one wag yelling out to Zia McCabe that he loved her.
They kicked off with ‘Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth’ and the crowd hooted and woo-hooed.
We cruised through ‘Shakin’, ‘Ride’ and ‘I’d Like to Help You with Your Problem’ (first one from the new album) before we heard the unmistakable sounds of the intro to ‘We Used to Be Friends’ and the crowd had their second sing along moment for the night, the second of quite a few.
Dandy Warhols – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Next up a couple more from Rockmaker – ‘Summer of Hate’ and the lead single, ‘Danzig with Myself’ (another song in the history of the band referencing other musicians) they sounded fantastic live, then ‘Plan A’, ‘Be Alright’ then a long extended jam through ‘I Love You’ and ‘I Will Never Stop Loving You’.
‘Welcome to The Monkey House’ was next then into the home stretch with ‘Godless’ which got a huge cheer, I love this song – this is my drive home from work, with it playing at a deafening level, decompressing song.
Dandy Warhols – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
‘Bohemian Like You’ began with Brent de Boer thundering through the drum intro, this song is a perennial fan favourite, I remember dancing at alt-music clubs to this and singing at the top of our lungs. The crowd tonight were singing along so loud they were almost drowning out the music.
‘Pete International Airport’ with a ‘Boys Better’ merge filled the last slot on the set, they don’t do encores so any chants of one more song were likely going to go unheeded.
Dandy Warhols – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
I thought The Dandy Warhols would have a new music heavy set with a recently released album, but it was very much a best of set with a few chucked in from the new album (around 4?). Maybe they just know the Australian audience or heard the whinging about the Red Hot Chili Peppers set when they toured. In all, it was a great set with the usual minimal audience interaction.
The Dandy Warhols are one of my favourite bands to see live, they always sound great and us die hard fans love them.
