Casually swinging on a beer Kurt Vile takes to the ABC stage to no real fanfare, taking his banjo in hand he glances at the sold out crowd and mutters “what’s up guys?” before opening up with new album track ‘I’m An Outlaw’.
This same casual tone continues throughout the show, at times it’s refreshing as Vile’s consistently high quality musical output enthralls the crowd, however his sound is generally always in a consistent vein, meaning the lengthy set can feel a bit enduring at points.
On record Vile has never been one to stray too far from where he started, with his take on rock music that veers ever so slightly towards country and folk, that incorporates his knack for smart, often hilarious observations in his lyrics that seem to grow with each release.
His latest effort, this year’s b’lieve I’m going down, continued that trajectory, and although some of the subject matter is slightly darker than his previous outings there’s nothing that sounds that out of place in his back catalogue.
Live Vile doesn’t quite come across as shy, but he’s not far off it, still there’s definitely something captivating about him and his generally nasal croakings, but this is a set that begs for something extra; potentially a seat, a warm fire, some ridiculous banter or maybe just something less, say half an hour or so.
What would be considered his biggest songs ‘Walkin On A Pretty Day’, ‘Jesus Fever’ and latest single ‘Pretty Pimpin’ all pack a punch and have the crowd swaying and nodding along nicely, but those three come in the first nine tracks of a 15 song set, and Vile’s songs are not short averaging around five-minutes a track.
By the end the majority of the crowd are fighting off the Monday night blues, as you get the feeling most would find this set more enjoyable in a more comfortable setting; a sunshine slot at a festival maybe.
Still, there’s no doubt of Vile’s talent, at moments tonight he’s engrossing; a cover of Springsteen’s ‘Downbound Train’ is one example of this, lifting attentions again towards the end of the set, while a rejigged encore to include the fan requested ‘Runner Ups’ is a nice touch.
There may well be some gripes about tonight, it might be because it’s Monday, but that won’t bother Vile, he’ll keeping going about in his understated way gradually winning more and more people over with ever so engaging output.
Words: Iain Dawson
Photos: Warrick Beyers
