Gyroscope at The Gov Review

Gyroscope

The Gov

January 13

Review by Jason Leigh

During their supporting set, current touring/sparring partners Adelaide’s energetic Horror My Friend ask if anyone is in from Thebarton, eliciting a response of a repeated “Torrensville” as an almost call to arms, although someone also contributes “Narnia”. Josh Batterbsy and Tom Gordon switch between bass, guitar and vocals with Sam Kolesnik on drums during their appropriately frenetic set with Josh revealing to us that that he actually works at the Gov as a glassie.

I had noted earlier on arrival that the crowd barriers were set up in anticipation of audience participation and within moments of Gyroscope commencing their set and singer guitarist Daniel Sanders playfully physically teasing an enthusiastic audience it is obvious that these barriers were the right decision. Daniel’s face is obscured by his hair for the entire set and I doubt that I would be able to recognise him offstage. His shirt is discarded early on, a minor step towards the almost type of indecent exposure that got Jim Morrison into trouble. Later he leans out above and into the audience arms outstretched Christ-like, facing and supported by hands from the audience while a security guard grasps at the back pocket of his worn jeans in some kind of tug-of-war, attempting to hold onto him but really only pulling at his jeans. This only adds to the already low riding effect that has been present for most of the set so that when he returns to prowling mid stage there is an exposed tuft of pubic hair coming out of the front of jeans before he pulls them up again.

Following a couple of songs at the start of their set, including recent double A-side single, “Dabs”, the band acknowledge their relative absence by way of marriages and babies. With no new album since Cohesion in 2010 and last touring in 2014 to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of their debut Sound Shattering Sound there is a fine selection of their back catalogue performed tonight by Daniel Sanders, Zoran Trivic on guitar, Brad Campbell on bass and Rob Nassif on drums, including “Beware Wolf” and “Baby I’m Gettin’ Better”. “Fast Girl” segues into a rendition of the Midnight Oil classic “Beds are Burning” which they follow with, “Thanks to Midnight Oil for helping us write that one”. I note the sole decorative flourish to Daniel Sander’s black guitar, a sticker of the Australian Aboriginal flag. The only other new song “Crooked Thought” arrived later in the set.

The audience moshes as one with numerous sweaty, topless male crowd surfers, some particularly adventurous like the stage diver who took advantage of distracted security guards diving not onto but disappearing into an opening in the audience during “Doctor Doctor”. Following that song Brad Campbell exclaims, “Doctor Doctor help that guy!” before the diver surfaces and it is revealed that he has come to no noticeable harm.

There is another cover with their single encore of the Nirvana song “Tourettes” and then an extended session of clasping hands and hand clapping with the audience up front, Gyroscope showing that this is a band grateful to their audience and fans.