Dirty Three

Classic Grand, 30 November

The Classic Grand building has been in place for over 160 years, initially opening as a warehouse, circa 1860. Classic in design, it’s seen many changes during its illustrious lifetime, one time cinema, amusement arcade and now music venue.

And on this night, the Classic Grand welcomed its own Classic Act in Dirty Three, spearheaded by Warren Ellis on violin and keyboards, with Mick Turner on guitar and Jim White on drums.

They arrive on stage to the thumping sound of ‘Lido Shuffle’ the 70’s Boz Skaggs’ toe-tapper. Warren Ellis dressed in an AC/DC t-shirt, a nod to a tale he’ll later relate to of the Loch Ness Monster and the band’s Malcolm Young. It all makes for quite an entrance.

Three seasoned campaigners with Warren Ellis playing the wild, maverick role to perfection. More often seen working with Nick Cave, tonight he was the star of the show. He was the link between the band and the audience.

He was the storyteller of Scots he knew so well. Bobby Gillespie and Pam Hogg get a name-check. He might not understand too much of what we say but always willing to engage in a conversation if it could be down on WhatsApp.

The Dirty Three play instrumentals throughout, the only vocal being the occasional growl, or shout or ‘aaaarrrrggghhhhh’. The lead instrument is the violin played intensely, some might even go as far as saying wildly, throughout over two hours the band were on stage. The tracks often swaying in and out of tempos but inevitably leading to a climatic finish where the instruments merged into a sonic explosion that rattled through the old venue.

The set leaned heavily on their 2024 album Love Changes Everything but critically remined all those watching that the band have been in existence for over thirty years with a back catalogue deserving of further investigation.

The three wise men played for well in excess of two and a half hours. They captured the essence of what makes us all tick. Not quite knowing what is going to happen next but waiting expectantly for a pleasant surprise.

I’ve seen Warren Ellis share the stage with Nick Cave on quite a few occasions, two musicians who work successfully together, for Nick Cave to go under the spotlight and take most of the plaudits.

On this night, it was a pleasure to see Warren Ellis take centre stage. He is amusing, he knows where he is saying all the right things to get the audience on side and delivers a mesmerizing performance.

The Dirty Three. The Classic Grand. An engrossing musical highlight.