Mushroom Giant – Gig Review 20th July @ Northcote Social Club, Melb/Naarm VIC
Mushroom GiantNorthcote Social Club, Melbourne/Naarm, VICJuly 20, 2024Support: Bear the Mammoth, All is ViolentTwenty years. When you simply say it (or type it), it’s just two words. When you live it, it’s something else altogether. Especially when it’s twenty years in the same all-instrumental post-rock original band. This is a genre that’s just about the hardest sell and the farthest from the mainstream you can get. But that’s where we stand with Melbourne’s Mushroom Giant. Tonight is a celebration of two decades of this band. It’s really an astonishing achievement, when you think about it. So massive kudos to them for making it this far.But more about the mighty MG is just a tic. We’ve got two fabulous support acts to experience first.All is Violent is a Melbourne-based three-piece instrumental act, who also belong fairly and squarely in the post-rock classification. I’m not certain of the exact statistics, but I’d imagine a majority of post-rock instrumental bands work with two guitars. All is Violent is an exception, however, and it suits them well. While the three-piece format disallows some of the intertwining textures that other bands of this ilk are able to create, the single guitar allows everything to breathe a little more freely.Tonight their set is, as you would imagine, a series of long, moody pieces. With this style of music, it’s all about the dynamics. But it’s not neck-snapping, on-a-dime dynamics in the manner of prog rock or metal, it’s enjoyably protracted transitions from the light to the shade, the lightness to the dark. When the music swells, it utterly fills the room, and your senses, with sound. When it ebbs, it’s wistful and delicate, and the atmospherics veritably send shivers down your spine. These type of bands are absolute masters of this, and AIV are no exception. Their set tonight is a mood, it’s a vibe, it’s an aesthetic that most outside the room tonight probably wouldn’t understand. But those within the walls understand it all too well, and love this style of music for its esoteric nature.Tonight, the NSC is an utterly vocal-free zone, and next up is the illustrious Bear the Mammoth.I echo many of the points made above about AIV and this sub-genre of music, and relate it to these guys: the darkness and ebb and flow of the sound, the abstruse vibe of it all, the utter eschewing of broader popularity and commercial concerns. This band adds layers to that sound. Not only do they utilise a second guitar, they bring in subtle but strong keyboard/synth effects, and this adds yet another dimension.It's all about what works for your band - the pared-back lineup works a treat for AIV, while BTM are very effective in adding nuance via the different sound sources.Their set tonight is all doomy melancholy, although with the odd jumpy moment thrown in for good measure, thrown in to throw us off. This band has been around for a long time too, so they are masters of their craft, owning the stage and the venue right through to their last track, which is a total psychedelic headfuck. But a highly enjoyable one!Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, the musicianship inherent in these bands is quite superb, although in a far more subtle, less bombastic way than what you get in prog rock and metal.A long, quiet but doom-laden and building intro heralds the arrival of the band we are celebrating tonight, bassist Craig Fryers doing his Jimmy Page trick with the violin bow across the strings of his (bass) guitar. It sets the stage beautifully.Yet again, we see why this style of music is such a hard sell to the mainstream public – their set is a deep and exploratory musical journey into soundscapes that are sometimes dark and oppressive, sometimes languid and Floydian, sometimes purely ambient, sometimes chaotic, and that are sometimes pure, powerhouse rock. And it all works beautifully.It’s a journey that transports you to another plane.Especially when the musical atmospheres are combined with the trippy, often spacey rear-screen projections. The lack of vocals and lyrical imagery is more than made up for by their intelligent and evocative use of visuals.Tonight, Mushroom Giant play for well over an hour, and it’s an absolute treat for the solid, hardy bunch of punters who rock up to experience it. In fact, the band holds us all enthralled and spellbound for the length of their set, finally leaving the stage as the clock approaches midnight and we all file out into the cold with broad smiles on our faces.Again, massive congratulations to Mushroom Giant for reaching such a monumental milestone. It truly is a testament to your dedication, staying power and boundless creativity.Here’s to another twenty . . .Review by Rod Whitfield
Mushroom Giant - 20 Year Anniversary Regional Tour
