Did Not Find Heaven in the Church

August 9, State Theatre, Falls Church

Recommended Beverage to go with this show:
the Rogue Dead Guy would’ve been perfect,
on several levels, but the State was out
so Dominion summer and Anchor Steam were my group's picks

I own a couple of albums by the Aussie-pop band, The Church (though apparently they have about 20, six of which were only released in Australia. Who knew?) And, I’d seen them live once before, a couple of years ago at the Birchmere, in the bandstand, and I remember everyone was dancing. But when I walked into the State Theatre in Falls Church last night and found more tables and chairs than usual, including across the dance floor, this tipped me off that a mellow show was forthcoming.

Mellow isn’t a bad thing. After all, I had several choice naps throughout their set, which was refreshing. But, for me, the tone was set during the first song when frontman Steve Kilbey began completely off pitch, then recovered by song’s end. Numerous songs in the set were filled with insightful lyrics, carried by Kilbey’s deep, sexy voice. But, while some bands can improvise and experiment with various styles, it became clear that the Church should stick with rock, their foolproof genre. Their retooled version of “Metropolis,” in flamenco style, just did not work.

Deep into their two hour set, a fan called out a request for “Reptile,” a popular and upbeat classic for this band, but Kilbey shot it down, saying he preferred people not shout out requests. That’s when he added, to most people’s surprise, that the band had some 20 albums, therefore some 200 songs, and could only include a small sampling at any show. That was rude, mate, and a great way to alienate yer small American fan base, particularly the few who actually know a song other than “Under the Milky Way,” albeit one from the same album. They of course played "Under the Milky Way" during the encore and, of course, Kilbey took the opportunity to expound on the song's popularity at length before singing it.

This Aussie-with-attitude bit was not very appealing. Plus, they started late and went quite late for a venue in Falls Church, so I left before they finished their encore. (hey, ClubD has a job and had to get up in the morning!) Perhaps they played "Reptile" in the end; maybe they didn't. But one thing's for certain. Opening act Rob Dickerson, former lead singer of The Catherine Wheel from Liverpool, stole the show.

Dickerson played some songs from his solo work and a few Catherine Wheel songs, all with that gorgeous voice--and impressive vocal range--at times using pedals for reverb. He humbly noted that his band had never performed in this area before and he was thrilled the crowd was being so receptive to, and recognized some of, his music. He joined the Church on guitar during the encore and the crowd seemed quite happy he finally got his chance to perform in this area.