Project Description

D.D Dumbo @ Astor Theatre WA, 29/06/17 (Live Review)

A lot can happen in a few years. Last time I saw D.D Dumbo (the nom de plume of Oliver Hugh Perry) it was at the drafty Fly By Night. He stood on stage, shaggy haired, cradling his guitar, with a variable collection of pedals at his feet, making a mark.  And as the saying goes; from small beginnings big things grow.
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Really big things – his 2016 LP Utopia Defeated blazed across the Aussie music sky exciting critics and listeners alike resulting in universal high praise and accolades including Triple J’s Album Of The Year. It’s hard to imagine that Perry had envisaged or even fantasied this eventual reception as he sat in his home studio meticulously working on songs. Indeed halfway into Perry’s magnetic set just before he begun the dreamy In The Water the Castlemaine musician looked up from his microphone, startled, almost like he could hardly believe what’s happening in front of him, which was kind of how we all felt in the audience.
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Perth’s Lower Spectrum set the tone with electronic downbeat tracks that perhaps pushed too hard for a crowd that were trying to warm up from the cold, and who were more interested in chit-chat. Still it gave a taste of things to come. Perry no longer a one-man-band came out on stage with his full band.
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Perry was such a deft hand at live sampling you hardly knew it’d happened until you heard the familiar layering of vocals or instruments halfway through the songs, as it was for opener Walrus and Tropical Oceans. However the inclusion of a band created a totally immersive experience as they played several different instruments with each creating a layered soundscape and giving an astounding display of dextrous musicality. With a screen backdrop featuring video sourced from what looked like an old high school biology reel, it was a fitting accompaniment to the tumble down the rabbit hole.
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Shifting into gear with the slightly dystopian sounding Cortisol, Perry threw himself into his performance with punctuated animated facial expressions and jittery movements that matched the pitch and ebb of his vocal like it was an otherworldly siren call. The thing with Perry’s show was that he made each song become its own character with differing instruments that had you over stimulated and frankly often surprised. In the quirky King Franco Picasso a set of wind chimes became a intermittent punching bag for Perry as he juggled between his guitar, trumpet and clarinet. It was weird but it was delightful because the resulting composition was fascinating.
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By the time Satan rolled around a buoyant Astor crowd were ready to dance as much as they could to the offbeat song. Melding 80s synth disco with a peculiar but familiar hooky funk Perry had a crowd entranced through the spatial The Day I Found God and I Woke Up Covered In Sand. Although one imagines that burrowed away making music, Perry gave little thought to hooky riffs instead relishing in delving into the peculiar or unknown.
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Perry was last year’s unexpected surprise with an album that parried much of the mundane tropes of popular music to produce something that sat very left of centre. Moreover performed live those idiosyncrasies were delivered with a sense of innovation. Sure you may not immediately understand exactly everything that is being presented but you sure as hell know that you like it and it feels right. So by the last lingering notes of Brother the only complaint you could level was that it was all over far too quick. Hopefully the plains of Castlemaine will evoke more inspiration.

4.5 stars

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