Live Gigs: Dirty Three @ Fly By in 2006, @ King Park in 2003 & @ Luna/Fly By in 2000

Flashback shows!

 I think the Dirty Three would be easy in my top five of Aussie bands I’ve seen live! I’d blogged at the end of last month a couple of Dirty Three live gigs of early 2010’s linked here. So here’s part two today and part three coming soon!

All these gigs were on the back of then brand new albums I’ve including them, if you wanted to have a listen? I feel all three albums of the 2000’s by them so totally different but maybe to a newer listener it might be all the same? It’s just pretty much just violin, guitar and drums but the 2005 album Cinder does have one song with guest vocals on Great Waves and Feral then bagpipes on Doris plus Bouzouki, Piano and Mandolin get thrown in too. Retracting what I was saying in that last post, my long-time maybe long-suffering ex did come to a couple of these shows but my own memory of her there is so very faded now and before that yet another ex-gf came to one. Sorry about all the bitching and moaning about that last time, I’ll try not to this time?

20th and 21st June 2006 in Fremantle at the old Fly By Night Club also with Joel Silbersher on bass guitar as Dirty four/fourth, Joel is a bit of an underground/indie hero but I don’t know how many others knew who he was? Seeing JS playing bass was worth the ticket price because he’s a guitar player normally. I’ve blogged my fave album of his linked here, song he wrote when he was a teenage and has been covered by every man/woman and dog linked here, couple of my personal fave songs by him which as far as I know no one has covered linked here and here and the last new thing he released link here. Those posts are all a couple of years old but hopefully tells you about Joel, if you wanna know more? That’s all about just the bass player but I did go both night one with you know who? The second night by myself because no one wanted to go! After some point in my life I’ve stopped asking friends if they wanna go to a gig because almost all the time nope was what I got, sometimes I would even buy tickets and they didn’t even turn-up but let’s forget about that now!

I remember them opening the shows with a few newer tracks from then new album Cinder and then going into a track or two from the previous album before playing some requests of the older 90’s songs, what ever seemed to get shouted the loudest before playing surprise cover of Maggie May. Which was going to be done or going to be on Triple J’s Like a Version radio show but as far as I know or I can’t find it on any JJJ playlists/websites never before or after so maybe it wasn’t aired or only once plus Dirty Three have never released it official on any releases but it was a bloody great night closer. I do remember noting down the songs played both gigs but who knows where that is now? Great Waves didn’t get played in Freo but I think Chan Marshall or AKA Cat Power did make it to one of the over east shows or was that overseas somewhere? I think I’ve added Rod Stewart’s Maggie May song now, just pretend it’s with no vocals played by this band, OK?

Local support was The Kill Devil Hills both nights because on the second night a diff band was booked but canned at the last minute, I remember Warren Ellis thanking them but he got the band’s name wrong both nights, it’s was something like Killer Frog Devils, He added frogs for some reason? I think it was frogs or something like that? Do remember that really well, because the band Kill Devil Hills came and watch were I was watching from, they were laughing and one of them was saying they should changed their name to that?

I remember Ellis was also saying in-between songs how much he loved this venue too, he’s played a few times over the years! This would be the last time they play it because it has closed down now, I think even back then they were fighting to stay open and have live music! The Fly By would be easy one of the best closed down venues in Freo over the years. The other night I walked into it, whatever they have called it now? It’s like this yuppie/hipsters dinner bar type of thing with no live music anywhere at all. Walking in about five metres the security stop me and asked me to leave because some BS about a private function, it seems like hellhole now.

28th February 2003 at Kings Park and was apart of Sunset Live festival that summer with Augie March, Dave Graney and Rawbone all playing in one night but Rawbone was just DJ playing songs in-between sets. Both Dave and Augie are from over east so they did pull out all the stops for that one. I think a local act was very early on but I forget who that was? I really remember feeding the ducks before hand because I arrived so early and all the don’t feed the ducks signs everywhere.

Fun fact today is the opening track Alice Wading of this 2003 album She Has No Strings Apollo was used the 2012 Hollywood movie Mud starring Matthew McConaughey which I remember as one of his best but I might be wrong? Ellis has gone on to score some movies but I don’t why some more of Dirty Three songs are used but that’s most likely the biggest to date, I trying to find the scene but it’s the song with movie poster. Kind-of totally unrelated but I read online somewhere someone wanted McConaughey to play Nick Cave in his biopic film, great bit of casting and Matt could do a bit of method acting swap Texas accent for an Aussie one, dye his hair black, lose the tan etc. but I don’t think that’s going to happen in a million years?

So that’s a great live clip from the following year somewhere else? The Live! At Meredith CD was sold at gigs in 2006 I picked it up at the shows above but have seen it on eBay for $100 or something since? Dirty Three were always great for having Merch table CD’s not in the shop releases but I don’t remember any Merch at this gig I’m supposed to be typing about now but the next one down at Fly By again had the Lowland limited edition eight album which was radio session and album outtakes. Anyway back to this gig I remember them playing almost all the new that with some older ones in between but once I wish I wrote it down somewhere and keep it!

This was the second and last time they played a show down south away from the big city in a winery close to a town called Dunsborough. I wish I when to those down south gigs now because I wish I did see them a couple more time back then. Yet another bass player joined them at this gig/tour, it’s was W.A.’s Marty P. Casey of The Triffids and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. They really did like having a fourth member around this time. I’ve typed about Casey before on my blog but I’m not linking him here, sorry but he lives down somewhere in Freo and see him around here a bit.

11th March 2000 at Fremantle’s Fly By Night Club and 12th March 2000 at close to Perth cbd at Leederville’s Luna Cinema/Theater. I was upstairs up the back with the latest gf I was seeing then she was shock by the singer, Warren Ellis wasn’t the singer but she keep calling him the singer but he was swearing and smoking on stage telling everyone they could smoke too which I found funny or something but she hated them and then a male mate came with me to the Freo show to get pissed but he hated Dirty Three too for different reason but he even walked out after a couple of songs, I was down the front so I just enjoyed the show! I still remember the opening song I Offered It Up To The Stars & The Night Sky which Ellis loop on a fx pedal but that night he keep looping it over and over until nothing but feedback was coming from the PA speakers, people in front of us were putting fingers in their ears and a couple even ran out of the venue which I didn’t mind I could see better! I’m pretty sure the album entitled Whatever You Love You Are had just been dropped that week so I got my copy at that gig and pretty sure they play almost all the songs from it over those two nights plus some older 90’s tracks too as the set-lists.

That’s the 2000 album opening track Some Summers They Drop Like Flys which was on a DVD live Japan/Asian bonus disc which only just that one song. I did named this 2000 album my fave album by D3 ever way back when I first started this blog, linked here. Worth noting a self-titled great doco/live in Japan on double DVD was released in 2007, Vivid fest/Sydney Opera House set to play the doco part on the big screen the day of the reunion show!

I’ve heard they’re going to be reissuing some or all their albums later this year but who know if and any bonus stuff with be released because I’ve got all the albums already, I would love something like box-set of unreleased stuff! I think if I was to rated the 2000’s album by them it would be: 1. Whatever 2. Apollo 3. Cinder but I’ve head a lot of people/fans naming Cinder as all-time fave D3 album so each to their own, I guess? This post could really be called everything 2000’s Dirty Three because I’m talking about a lot of stuff not just these few gigs?

Here’s all three 2000’s Aussie tour posters/flyers!

I’m going to do blog post some non-Aussie or oversea acts after one more Dirty Three post! Some bands/artists that have came and tour here which I got to see them and who I’d ranted the highest or best live acts I’ve seen! Coming soon to my blog, OK?

Cheers 🙂

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