Mazzy Star
Opera House Concert Hall, June 11
★★★★
Mazzy Star make music for mindfulness.
This was one gig where the similar, shambling tempo of most tunes was a balm rather than a bore, although there were standouts.
Photo: Prudence Upton
Playing in Australia for the first time since coming together in 1989, the calmness of the crowd could almost be clinical proof of the Californians' stress-soothing qualities.
Whether strumming big chords on an acoustic guitar or cutting psychedelic shapes on a Stratocaster, David Roback's playing invited meditation, and left room to breathe.
The limited range of Hope Sandoval's pure, dispassionate vocals added to the trance-like effect, never dominating a soundscape fleshed out by gently insistent bass, just-enough drumming, licks of pedal steel and stately keyboards.
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The staging did nothing to break the spell. There were no spotlights and Sandoval barely moved except to tap her hip with a tambourine or occasionally sip from a wine glass.
Projected images of moonscapes, empty rooms and woodland creatures provided a subtle counterpoint to her ethereal, first-person lyrics and even her lone comment to the crowd was fittingly cryptic: "What a day".
Such was the reverie that even Mazzy Star's closest thing to a hit, '90s indie-radio staple Fade Into You, was greeted with only muted applause. Most smartphones stayed in pockets.
This was one gig where the similar, shambling tempo of most tunes was a balm rather than a bore, although there were standouts.
The piano-led Quiet, The Winter Harbor from this year's Still EP might be the prettiest song Sandoval and Roback have ever written, while the hymn-like Look on Down for the Bridge is a moody masterpiece.
Where Mazzy Star mollified, Drones frontman Gareth Liddiard gave a rougher start to the night.
His solo set of guttural voice and electric guitar brought to mind punk-folk poet Kevin Coyne, never more than on the astounding Did She Scare All Your Friends Away.
This epic takedown of venal capitalism is eight years old but still provided a shot of reality on a night made for dreaming.
Mazzy Star play a second show at the Concert Hall on June 12.
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