WILD FLAG Rabbit Island / Erasers The Bakery Wednesday, March 7, 2012

WILD FLAG

Rabbit Island / Erasers
The Bakery
Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Fans were lining up behind The Bakery prior to gates open on Wednesday night, and it wasn’t difficult to see that the hardcore fans were the most stereotypical: Doc Martens and fishnets galore. However, as the night went on the fanbase got broader; young, old, female, male – a cross-section of people who just love great rock music.

Opening up the night were Erasers, kings and queens of extreme experimental. It was a strange choice in genre for supporting Wild Flag, and the crowd seemed to think so too – most punters chose to sit out in the beer garden, with a few stragglers standing up the back inside. Refined, rhythmic, rolling songs blended together, with Rebecca Orchard wailing a chant over the odd instrumental refrains.

Up next were Rabbit Island (the project fronted by soft-spoken chanteuse Amber Fresh, who was tonight backed up by Will Stoker, Sam Kuzich and Tame Impala’s Dom Simper), bringing something sweet yet sombre to the table. Fresh’s vocals have an ethereal, hypnotic quality, and with such a stunning voice, all that’s needed is a little instrumental refinement.

The crowd had grown significantly for go time, when Wild Flag hit the stage to a considerable amount of fan-girling and men attempting to look nonchalant. It was odd to be so close to four women who have each held such musical influence in different outfits over the past few decades. No barriers between fans and stage, no rock star arrogance, just down to earth alt-rock at its finest.

That’s one of the most admirable aspects of Wild Flag: though they could have easily used their power and status to promote themselves and sell out stadiums around the world, they chose to walk the same path as all other rock bands and begin from the ground up. Playing small clubs and pubs and quietly announcing tours, the integrity of these musicians is all part of their impressive package.

Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony shared lead vocals, and chose to alternate songs, rather than complementing each other – a good move, considering their differing styles. Timony tends towards an extended alt-rock depth, whereas Brownstein identifies with the hard and fast rock tunes. Keyboardist Rebecca Cole brought an extra element to the band, and rather being the token keyboard girl, actually contributes to each and every song in a big way.

Janet Weiss lives up to her reputation and is an absolute legend, up there with the drumming greats; there’s unbelievable energy and force behind every beat that is unbelievable to watch.
The fierce foursome ran through a number of different ‘angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion’ tunes, including Glass Tambourine, Something Came Over Me, and the majority of tracks from their recent self-titled release, ending on the rambunctious harmonies of Romance.

True to form, they graciously took to the stage for an encore after demand from the crowd, and played two perfectly fitting covers: Bobby Freeman’s Do You Wanna Dance, and Television’s See No Evil.

Attempting to compare Wild Flag to members’ previous bands (Sleater-Kinney, Helium, The Minders) would be amiss, as they have simply become an amalgam of everything that was excellent about their past groups – they’re just carrying on the legacy. All that’s left to say is this: fuck yeah, lady-rock.

_CHLOE PAPAS