The Powerstation, 8pm
Wednesday 14 March, 2012
Tickets on sale now from Ticketmaster
Last seen blowing minds in the late afternoon sun at Laneways 2010, instrumental trio the Dirty Three make a welcome return to our shores.
Formed some 20 years ago in Melbourne by violinist/frontman Warren Ellis, guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White, the Dirty Three create a sound both skeletal and dramatic. However, this is no mere background music and the Dirty Three are unlikely to be the soundtrack to anyone's dinner party. Their songs ebb and flow and often culminate in a total cacophony of squally feedback and noise.
Live, the band are no less arresting. Ellis leaps around like a dervish, kicks like a skinny, beardy Elvis and makes - as Rolling Stone noted - 'violin playing look like a lascivious, illicit act'.
Ellis has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds since 1996 and Turner and White have collaborated with a number of artists including Cat Power, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and PJ Harvey.
The Dirty Three have also curated the UK's seminal alternative festival 'All Tomorrow's Parties' and also appeared at its sister festival in New York reprising their classic 1998 album 'Ocean Songs' to great acclaim.
Their last studio album 'Cinder' saw the band break away from all instrumentals by including two two songs with vocals by Cat Power and Sally Timms of The Mekons.
