Project Description

Bad Dreems + The Creases + Body Type @ The Metro 09/06/17 (Live Review)

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Bad Dreems

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Bad//Dreems was the most violent, out of fucking control gig of an Australian band I’ve been to since the 2000 Big Day Out when Killing Heidi was booked into a side-stage by unwitting organisers who didn’t realize they had just broken big-time with the Australian public. That was a consequence of a specific screw-up though and last Friday there was something different going on with the Bad//Dreems gig – because although it was a good sized crowd, the Metro wasn’t completely packed. It was more that there was a powerful whiff of crazy in the air.

From the second Bad//Dreems took to the stage the crowd became a seething, writhing mass of undulating bodies that genuinely left me surprised everyone made it out alive. Even before they came on a series of power-drinking games amongst the crowd hinted that anarchy was only a hairs breath away. Once things kicked off, the continual spray of alcohol being thrown as people shook their drinks around in sheer ecstacy was like a sticky rain that continued throughout the headline performance. The uneasy fury of Bogan Pride set up a roiling crowd of lunging bodies. The anthem By My Side sent out a howl of longing and pain that was bounced back and repeated by the crowd in a rolling echo. The music of Bad//Dreems takes the thundering classic ozzie pub sound and then spices it with a pinch of irony and enough self-awareness to be smart but not so cerebral that it stops being threatening. It’s music that addresses the resentment and anger felt by young Australians.

There’s something perverted and wrong with modern Sydney. There’s nowhere young people are welcome. Alcohol costs a bomb, bars close earlier than anywhere else in the Western world. Live music is forced to contend unsuccessfully with whinging neighbours and the greedy-shabby allure of pokie machines. Our police specifically target the young at train stations, in our pubs and on our streets with invasive sniffer dogs. Security in orange RSA vests patrol nightclubs peering through cracks into toilet cubicles. Uni has never been more expensive and less likely to lead to a decent job.

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Bad Dreems

BAD DREEMS Picture – Josh Pike

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Any hope of buying a house in the area you grew up means you need to win the fucking lottery or take up international arms dealing. So given all that it’s not surprising that shit is starting to get a little crazy around the edges. Gutful is a song that expresses a wave of the rage that young people are feeling about the festering canker of modern politics, the racism and jingoism of our politicians, the stifled opportunities and the feelings of frustration that can sometimes overwhelm.

Bad//Dreems have really caught onto to something. Their mix of boozy angst, smart lyrics and social awareness is in the best tradition of good ozzie rock and just might signal a synchronicity with the times. It’s the kind of heady blend that just might get them headlining a stadium one day…

As for the supporting acts, Body Type had a dreamy, 70s river of sound feel that would have got them straight onto the Craft soundtrack if they were playing in the 90s. I’d definitely recommend checking them out. Meanwhile, The Creases gave an excellent accounting of themselves. Coming across like a garage band that had been locked in practicing for a decade they brought a real musical skill and passion in a set that lit the fuse of a crowd that was looking to cut loose. It was a good night for Ozzie music.

-A.K Wregg.

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Check out Josh Pike’s gallery of this show HERE

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AMNPLIFY – DB

Connect with Bad//Dreems

Bad Dreems

A.K Wregg