Sharing Humanity, Madness, Possession and Billy Joel With Dirty Three
- Lauren Tucker
- Jul 1, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 2, 2024
DIRTY THREE
The Tivoli, Brisbane
Friday, 28 June 2024
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At a sold-out Tivoli, punters have been known to be almost territorial as they claim their stake and vantage points to the stage. Interestingly, this is not the case tonight. The down-to-earth relatability of our fearless leader for the evening - Warren Ellis - has permeated the crowd. Folks are friendly and smiling with each other, at the height of their humanity, as they let each other pass by. Connected through the shared reality of witnessing tonight’s event.
Dirty Three have a magical knack for deep connection. Multiple people here have their eyes closed during the show, savoring each sound as it washes over us all. Warren Ellis faces the back of the stage as he plays, slow dancing his bow across the strings, sharing tall tales of love, death, life at sea, life on land, and anything in between. The ethereal music stirs up moments of nostalgia and reflection, as each person in attendance sways in time, attaching their stories to the sound. Then the stage lights up like lightning and we are shaken awake from the dream, as Ellis violently strikes the violin, while jumping around the stage like a man possessed. Emitting a sense of madness and possession, with the mastery of someone becoming one with their instrument.
Every moment tonight is creative. Ellis interacts with the crowd like we are his old friends, some of whom he first saw when the band played Ric’s Café here in Brisbane, circa 1992 (which was last century in case you didn’t know!). His yarn spinning is fantastical and detailed, as he makes full use of the old advice to ‘Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn!’. There are tales of peanut butter, and of sticking a fork into a hotdog suit-wearing Billy Joel. We are all enthralled, entertained, and we are all in it together. The Dirty Three tonight have given all who witnessed it a sense of connection, shared humanity, and hope… Mainly the hope that we can do it all again soon.
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