TROPICAL F--- STORM ★★★★
Howler, May 11

The dad-rock acolytes of Melbourne's inner-north had come to see their messiah.

But tonight Gareth Liddiard was at the head of a new clergy - not his long-running garage rock group The Drones, but Tropical F--- Storm (yes, really), a new vehicle breathing fresh life into the revered songwriter's career.

Playing a three-night set to support the release of their debt album, A Laughing Death in Meatspace, the band quickly dispelled any fears the rusted-on crowd might have had about a Dylan Goes Electric-style departure in substance or form.

Alongside Drones' bassist Fiona Kitschin, Liddiard was as enthralling a showman as ever - pausing from his tirades of sardonic avant-punk poetry only to swig from a bottle of Jameson.