Xiu Xiu Live at Substation on 2025-04-05 - Kostenloses Hörbuch

Xiu Xiu - noisy industrialists and queer icons from California - have been breaking through to new heights of popularity after their "hit" album was released late last year to mass critical acclaim (drummer David Kendrick opened the set by crossing his drumsticks, akin to the record's cover art, and waving them aloft to the crowd to some cheers). Here, with their return to Melbourne for the first time in eight years (part of a tour where they played the music of Twin Peaks), they sold out the Substation and had to add a second night before they head north to China... I was there for the first night, part of an eclectic and rather young audience, and we were all ready to be impressed.

The trio came on, behind a variety of noisemakers and other implements (if you look at the cover art, you'll see a cymbal stack right in the middle for Jamie to crash on), and after saying hello to us they went straight into it - loud, heavily percussive noise/industrial with pleading and extreme vocals and a very large dynamic range (you may want to put this through some sort of compression when listening). But Xiu Xiu are remarkably listenable for a band that produces such music, and it was very hard to resist getting wrapped up in the world they produced for us - especially when Jamie is a compelling bandleader, yelping with emotion throughout and even doing a pair of handstands at one point. Ten of their albums were represented across the show, so we really got a good mix of what they can do. (The quibble I have is that it took a long time between songs, which was noticeable even on the night, but what can you do?)

It's so weird, thinking about it, to have an audience cheering in recognition at a gig like this, but it happened when 'Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl' hit near the end of the set. On the whole I found that the setlist was pretty well structured - starting with a few (relatively) accessible tracks, veering right into weirdness and culminating in the astonishingly abstract 'Wig Master', before bringing it back with a bunch of the "catchy" new songs for the finishes. I'm quite fortunate that the setlist was the same as it was on the European tour earlier this year, because otherwise I really don't think I could have figured out which songs were which from their live arrangements. It did have the unfortunate effect where I thought "okay, this is the last song" three times in a row, but there was a payoff to that, which was Jamie coming out for an encore after I thought they were surely done and giving us a very tender solo guitar version of 'Fabulous Muscles'. It was a great closer, and really exemplified why they're so important to so many.

Track listing:

1. [intro]

2. The Silver Platter

3. Sleep Blvd.

4. Blacks

5. It Comes Out as a Joke

6. Suha

7. Gray Death

8. Jenny GoGo

9. Wig Master

10. Arp Omni

11. T.D.F.T.W.

12. The Real Chaos Cha Cha Cha

13. Sad Pony Guerrilla Girl

14. Common Loon

15. Veneficium

16. Get Up

17. [encore break]

18. Fabulous Muscles [Jamie solo]

2 from Angel Guts: Red Classroom; 3, 10, 11, 14, and 15 from 13" Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto With Bison Horn Grips; 4 and 13 from A Promise; 5 from Girl With Basket of Fruit; 6 from Knife Play; 7 from Dear God, I Hate Myself; 8 and 16 from FORGET; 9 from The Air Force; 12 from Ignore Grief; 18 from Fabulous Muscles.