Dandy Warhols, Tripod, Dublin
After an Oasis-inspired but impressive set from Dublin-based support act The Brothers Movement the quietly psychedelic spectacle that is the Dandy Warhols took to the stage at Tripod, looking their boho-rock best and ready to teach the would-be indie kids a thing or two. A typically downbeat start gave little away, and even the killer hand-clap and kitschy synth combination of ‘We Used to be Friends’ was less lively than it might have been. By ‘Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth’ however, the Warhols had found their feet. If anyone could make the anti-drugs message cool, it’s this band and that anthem (authorities, please take note).
Courtney Taylor-Taylor didn’t need to sweet talk his enthusiastic audience by declaring how intimidating it was to sing in Ireland, “where all the great white soul singers come from” but ‘Talk Radio’ showed off his gravely tones to perfection, as did the ever-ominous ‘I Love You’. ‘Last High’ went down just as well live as he claimed it had in an acoustic radio session that day; a tight performance confirming that the Portland foursome were truly getting into their stride.
‘All the Money or the Simple Life, Honey’ was, as proved to be the general format of the gig, a return to the upbeat side of indie rock after a spell of equally enjoyable hippy-trance material, moving past the inevitable Vodafone moment with ‘Bohemian Like You’ and on to the all too danceable ‘Get Off’. Having then played through the vast majority of their hits in a short and successful space of time, it was time to return a slower hippy-trance vibe before the hillbilly sway of ‘The New Country’.
The Dandy Warhols shift from one genre to another with ease, and from the swooping guitars of ‘Godless’ to the lesser-heard ‘Genius’ seem not to have lost any their own particular genius between 1995’s ‘Dandy’s Rule, OK?’ to this year’s ‘Earth to the Dandy Warhols’. The Beck-esque ‘Horse Pills’ was followed by the just as brilliantly bizzare ‘The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers AKA the Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty’. A rocked-up version of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ added a festive touch to the proceedings, and a final acoustic singalong for ‘Every Day Should be a Holiday’ outdid any on-record version of the track, ensuring that the Dandy Warhols ended their 2008 tour just as dandily as ever.
Photos by Julie Bienvenu.
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