OFWGKTA @ The Hi-Fi, 05.06.2011

From Kylie on Friday night to OFWGKTA on Sunday night. Odd Future have been one of the more interesting phenomenons in 2011. They’ve gone from me having never heard of them, first seeing their name on the Vivid Live bill, and suddenly being everywhere. And despite all that I wouldn’t be able to hum you a single song of theirs.

This is a very last minute and hastily arranged show for me, so much so that I don’t have a photo pass and am getting in on a media list +1. Although I’ve brought my camera I don’t know how far I’m going to get through the door but there’s no problems getting a camera in, although I obviously have to photograph from the crowd and am given no guarantees at the door that security won’t stop me. Originally we head for a spot downstairs to the side of the mixing desk, but with the Hi-Fi being the most full I’ve ever seen it (dare I say oversold…) there’s a change of plan and we head for the balcony instead. The balcony doesn’t look as packed as downstairs, with everyone obviously wanting to get close to the stage and although it only takes a couple of rows of people lined up across the balcony to fill it or at least fill any spaces where you have a view of the stage), I manage to squeeze in against the railing at the very end. It’s not a bad place to photograph from although it’s a long way from stage and, being the Hi-Fi, the lighting is far from ideal.

A 10pm start time had been mentioned but it’s nearer to 10:30pm by the time they start, with Sampology having been given the unenviable task of warm-up act, with his DJ-ing being greeted with ongoing chants of “WOLF GANG” throughout his set. The masked Tyler starts the set with only Syd The Kid DJ-ing for support and it doesn’t take him long to stage dive into the crowd. I do like how he gracefully flicks off his shoes before he makes his leap; it’s not like it’s a predetermined act or anything… I see the jump coming and fire off a couple of shots but neither of them are much good; grainy, mushy, and blurry. The rest of the collective join him afterwards and I find myself surprisingly enjoying it, at least for a few songs, before finding that it gets old fairly quickly. Being the Hi-Fi, the sound is fairly terrible. Having not been on the balcony since the venue’s opening night, with it having been closed off at every single gig I’ve been to there between then and tonight, I hadn’t realised just how small the speakers attached to the roof in front of the balcony are and just how quiet the sound is. It’s like listening to your stereo in your lounge. So despite all the column inches about the band and their lyrics, it’s a hard job actually hearing what is being rapped. Having said that a certain number of words and phrases are easier to pick out than others during their set, with the most frequently used of these being “bitch”, “faggot”, “nigga”, “shit”, “Wolf Gang” and the “Golf Wang” variation. However, misogynistic and offensive the lyrics might be, the details are lost in the mix.

Having moved out to the suburbs a few weeks earlier, this is my first Sunday night getting to at a gig in the city by train. Having checked the timetable, there’s a train at 11:38pm that I want to get, so that I can sort out the photos and submit them first thing in the morning, so leave well before the end, after having seen maybe 40 minutes of the band and walk to South Brisbane train station. I get there only to be told that the last train left almost an hour ago and that I’d mis-read the timetable, reading the column for the Saturday night trains instead of the columns for Sunday. To put this into some perspective, OFWGKTA started their set at almost 10:30pm and the last train, leaving from a station a good 10 minutes walk from the venue, left at 10:38pm. As I keep pointing out, until Brisbane gets a public transport system that can come anywhere near meeting the needs of a city of over 2 million people, gigs need to be earlier, especially so on Sunday nights. My only option for getting back is taxi and so the $27 for the taxi back the 8km or so back from South Brisbane to Salisbury makes it a more expensive night than had been planned.

One Response to “OFWGKTA @ The Hi-Fi, 05.06.2011”

  1. piedra says:

    hey im trying to get a photopass any chance u can help me out with the contact info on who to get in touch with for one thanks
    piedrahitai (at) yahoo .com thanks

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