Dirty Three

First, a few words for anyone who hasn't heard of Dirty Three. They are an Australian instrumental rock trio - Warren Ellis (violin), Mick Turner (guitar) and Jim White (drums). So no vocals to be found here, but not a moment of musical indulgence either. This band tells stories through their music, which is hypnotic, beautiful, angry, violent, delicate, impassioned, human. Journeys play out on fiddle, drums, guitar and occasionally digeridoo and evoke nostalgia, melancholy and the land of their country.

I spot Warren before the gig in the downstairs bar - huddled at a table with some other guys. There is a restless energy at the table, a sense of gravity and purpose as well as a sense that they are passing through. In comparison the rest of us seem lacklustre. I am already mesmerised.

Resplendent with wild hair and jet black beard ('When in France', he tells us), Warren later beats his way through the crowd, yelling for passage with his violin case held high over his head. The atmosphere is intimate, with affectionate heckling from the many Australians. He'll play some new songs and then take orders, he tells us. Before long the Barfly is hanging on every scratchy note as the three musicians weave their way through our imaginations. The songs are carefully plotted journeys, and you sense that they are never the same every time, that the players are living through them as intensely as they ever did. I've been listening to Dirty Three for some time, but to see these songs unfold live is an entirely different experience. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

When: 6/10/05
Where: Barfly, London
Who: Dirty Three
Review by: Jane Rich
Pitchfork reviews: Dirty Three