Dirty Three back in Greece for a new musical storm June 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in MusicLife LiveGigs.trackback
Indie greats end European tour with two Greek shows
Just weeks after curating All Tomorrow’s Parties, a major UK festival, Dirty Three end their European tour at the Gagarin in Athens this Saturday.
The instrumental violin-led trio Dirty Three, arguably the most intriguing contemporary act to have emerged from Australia since the faraway country’s indie-music boom of the 80s, have managed to put themselves on the international music map, despite rendering unlikely and unconventional work. Well-received early gigs, circa 1993, at modestly sized clubs on the domestic circuit, accompanied by early albums that underscored the trio’s creative, honest and expressive approach to music making, swiftly encouraged the Australian band to take its work overseas.
Nowadays, seven albums and countless shows later, Dirty Three rates as a prime player on the international indie circuit. Highlighting their stature, just weeks ago, the trio acted as curators at one of the indie scene’s leading festivals, All Tomorrow’s Parties, in the UK. Then, it was back on the road again for a 13-date European tour that ends this Saturday in Athens at the Gagarin club. Dirty Three also plays in Thessaloniki on Thursday at the Xylourgeio club.
Dirty Three have visited Greece for shows twice before, initially as a largely unknown quantity back in 1996, as the support act for compatriot Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. But the trio did manage to introduce itself in the best of ways with a spirited set that gained it instant recognition among Cave’s considerable Greek following. The trio returned to the Greek capital just over five years ago for two scintillating sold-out shows at the Small Music Theater.
There are a couple of Greek connections to this band. As curators at the recent All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, Dirty Three’s list of chosen performers included Cretan lyra-player Psarantonis, whose frenzied style of playing can draw comparisons to Ellis’s approach. Last time they were in Athens, Dirty Three rushed off from the club they had just played to catch Psarantonis at a venue across town. Moreover, the Australian band’s «Horse Stories» album, released in 1996, includes «I Remember a Time When Once You Used to Love Me,» a radicalized cover of a modern Greek classic written by Yiannis Spanos and originally sung by the respected singer-songwriter Arletta. She is aware of the Dirty Three’s version and the two sides have met.
Commenting on his double-fronted role as a member of Dirty Three and Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds in recent years, Ellis remarked: «The Dirty Three is something we’ve all worked at together. I’ve been with the band through the good and the bad. The Bad Seeds were already happening when I arrived. With the Dirty Three we do whatever we want. We’ve watched it grow, a bit like a child. Sometimes it behaves, other times it doesn’t.»
grhomeboy
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