Unlikely stars, Victoria's Augie March have never been a band to take the well-trodden path, so it's perhaps oddly fitting that they choose arguably their commercial peak to announce an 'extended hiatus.' That old chestnut. But before they scurry off to their respective side projects, the five-piece have embarked on a retrospective tour to mark the end of this chapter.
On supporting duties are Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe from The Drones. Rather than lurching and leering across the stage, tonight Liddiard is shackled to a stool with an acoustic on his knee. And while Luscombe occasionally rises from his seated position to strap on an electric and stomp on an overdrive pedal, it's all fairly polite and restrained - which is not exactly what you want from this pair. The faithful no doubt enjoy hearing a few favourites in a different context, but there really is no substitute for The Drones in full, electrified, flight. One for the fans.
By contrast, the headliners announce themselves with a dam-busting triple guitar onslaught; the opening track from their much-loved 2000 debut Sunset Studies, The Hole in Your Roof, is transformed into a fixture-rattling crescendo of noise. That first LP dominates the setlist tonight, though Augie March give all of their four albums a look-in, evidentially just as excited as their audience at the prospect of trawling through the back-catalogue. Eschewing singles in favour of dusting off obscurities, this is decidedly a show for the fans.
Three-piece horn section The Arnold Horns also join Augie March for a good deal of the set and lend the likes of Just Passing Through and There's Something at the Bottom of the Black Pool a muscular soul revue punch.
At the behest of one enthusiastic audience member in the front row, they even take a couple of minutes onstage to confirm correct chord progressions between themselves before ploughing through Century Son from their first release, 1998 EP Thanks for the Memes. Despite the band's insistence they can barely remember the song, it still sounds sharp. "I'm not sure if I'd have stuck around if all the songs sounded like that," jokes keyboardist/accordionist Keiran Box as the band exchange rolled eyes and chuckles at the folly of their youth.
For much of their 13 years Augie March were an unwieldy live proposition - which, it has to be said, was part of their charm. As they themselves admit, on any given night they'd either be 'off' or 'on.' Minor technical or human error would often rankle famously perfectionist frontman Glenn Richards, which in turn could derail a show entirely. Back in the day a bung chord or a bit of feedback would have caused the band to grind to a halt, but these days they simply shrug off such minor annoyances and soldier on.
Which is why it's a shame the band are taking a lengthy breather, as Augie March are certainly 'on' tonight. As they depart, they thank the crowd for the last 13 years. "Actually, we started coming here five years after we formed, so we should really only thank them for the last eight years," bassist Ed Ammendola chimes in. There's always one.
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