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Grug's Old Gig Reviews
Veruca Salt (30/09/97)
One band I saw last year and thoroughly enjoyed was Veruca Salt.Mmmmmmm, Veruca Salt. Nina and Louise are both the most beautifulbabes ever to grace the stage. That gig went off harder thanRegurgitator. With the Bloodhound Gang in support, a good night washad by all. Although Veruca Salt with an hour and a half set was thebetter of the two, they kept the crowd jumping and roaring all nightlong. Although I enjoyed the evening a lot, I have not yet venturedout to purchase the albums. Maybe those should be the next Ipurchase.
Regurgitator (11/12/97)
Last year I also saw Regurgitator live in concert. They went off.The mix of old and new material worked well. And to all thosearmchair critics who think that they should have come out withanother album like "Tu Plang," go to hell. It's anly through changeand experimentation that bands grow. The album still has the samewitty lyrics so is still quite good.
Custard (25/02/98)
The Custard gig was the first concert that I attended this year,and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Getting very close to the front thewhole atmosphere of the mosh was really friendly and a good time washad by all. Custard again showed their pon chance for good tunes andfunny lyrics. I had a rad time.
The Whitlams (18/03/98)
After only having heard the stength of the Whitlams material onthe radio, but hearing excellent reports of their live shows, I wentto this gig anticipating a good show, and got an excellent one. Bythe end of the gig my clothes were soaked with sweat, surprising asthis was one gig I did not mosh at. After the First two rather bad toregular support bands, the first of the bands I'd come to see cameon, they were Mr Blonde. Mr Blonde put on a fine show to a veryunreceptive audience.
Next came the half hour wait. Durring this time I managed tosqueeze myself towards the front of the floor, and came within threerows of people, and managed to stay there for the rest of the night.The pressure of hundreds of bodies crammed together caused thetemperature to rise. Then the Whitlams came on. They played an hourset with half an hour of encores. The entire set just blew my mind. Iwas so impressed, that the next day I rushed out to purchase thealbum. Up until that time I had not been to a better gig.
Superjesus (21/03/98)
Within four days of the gig that blew my mind, I was off atanother concert. Again an Australian band, this time the Superjesus.This gig disapointed me a little, the strength of their radiofriendly sound did not translate live on stage. That along withgetting kicked in the head durring the support band Snout did notmake this gig one of those up the top of my list.
Green Day (28/03/98)
This was one gig that I was really anticipating, as Green Day areone of my favorite bands. Other than a boot to the head, by somepathetic fuckwit of a crowd surfer I had a really rad time. Beforethe gig had even started I spotted the drummer Tre Cool in the barand managed to get him to sign the Green Day T-shirt that I waswearing, unfortunately he wouldn't sign my ticket stub. :( That wasthe catalyst for a really rad night as I really wanted my shirtsigned. The support band the Mavis's were in fine form, and played agreat set.
After several delays came the band we'd all been waiting for,Green Day. They played a set of both old and new stuff, from allthree of their Warner albums, and a couple of songs from their albumsreleased by Lookout records. Although the best bit of the entirenight came when they played Knowlege. Unfortunately hardly anyone inthe crowd knew the lyrics. Durring this song they got a member of theaudience up to play with them which was really rad. This combinedwith the great rapport Billie-Joe had with the audience lead to agreat gig.
Tea Party with L7 (15/04/98)
Well for a gig that I was not going to pay for, it was certainlyworth the ticket price. This gig was great. The band I most wanted tosee was the support L7 who played an excellent gig, and were awesome.Four girls, kinda skanky, but the music they play is awesome. I wasnot disappointed.
The main attracton for most people was the Tea Party, who are aband of legend in Canberra. The first gig they played here, they werepayed $200 and a case of beer, and have come back every time they'rein Australia. They played an awesome set, with all the radiofavorites and some more. They played two versions of Sister Awake,the electric and the accoustic, and were really trippy. On a finalnote, lead singer Jeff Martin looked a little fatter in the face thanthe press shots, if you see 'em, email me with your comment.
Porkers with BuckONine (16/05/98)
This was the first gig I've been to at Canberra's legendary GypsyBar. Whilst the accoustics weren't the greatest it was still a greatnight out. This was the first time I'd seen ska live on stage, and itwas great. The support band Buck-O-Nine played an awesome set afterCanberra's Ballistic Allshorts, who played a mixture of ska withdeath metal vocals. They were cool. Buck-O-Nine provided the firstdose of real ska for the night. My god were they cool. One of myfriends managed to get all of their autographs by the end of theevenning. Since I had not heard many of their songs before theysounded really fresh, with a good use of horns, bloody awesome ska.
I had been warned by one of my friends about the antics of thePorkman but to my dismay he did not come down to the floor for theentire evenning. Buck-O-Nine were rad, but the Porkers were psycho.My first experience of skanking was a great introduction. It's a lotmore friendly than the whole mosh pit thing. But the Porkers brand ofska was totally awesome. I had a great time. So I will now endevourto pruchase a ticket to see them again with the Mighty MightyBosstones.
The Whitlams (21/05/98)
After seeing The Whitlams earlier this year and being utterlyblown away, I went into this gig full of expectations. And my godwere they all proven right. Seeing them again they just blew me away.They played for near on two hours, this included two encores, andthey were going to do another had one of their rythmn section notbeen throwing up. The set was amasing, most of the songs off EternalNightcap, many from their first album, and a few from their secondthrown in for good measure. It was awesome. All I can say is if youhaven't seen them live and you live in Australia you should endevourto do so, because they are just awesome. Everything was good aboutthis gig, other than two wankers yelling out abuse, but Tim Freedmanthe lead singer handled this really well. Just go and see 'em,whether your with your girlfriend or single, they'll blow you away.
Atari Teenage Riot (04/06/98)
Well Atari Teenage Riot. Shit my ears hurt after this gig. I wishI'd taken my ear plugs. My ears didn't stop ringing for two days. Butwhat the hey. I thought these guys would be good to see live. I was alittle disappointed. I just thought they'd be better. It was a tinycrowd and the band really didn't look like they wanted to be there.They played their set which was good apart from the fucked amp, theygot off the stage, left and we went home. All in all it wasn't reallya tops gig, it was disappointing, to use the word again. I justdidn't enjoy myself as much as I should have. But oh well, you seeand excellent gig and then you see a shithouse one. Hopefully theMavis's will be better.
The Mighty, Mighty, Bosstones (22/07/98)
Well after a breif haitus from attending concerts, I was back, andback with a vengence. I decided to shed my wimpy skin and stakemyself out a spot at the front, as the Amazing Royal Crowns startedtheir set. The set was great, the crowd got into the swing of thenight. I had made a decision that after ATR completely fucked myhearing, I would make use of the good ol' ear plugs, actually Ibought a new pair. After the Amazing Royal Crowns finished their set,I decided that I'd try and find the people I was there with. To mysurprise I was quite sweaty, that early in the night.
Well I had seen the Porkers once before and really didn't wish tomiss them this time around. They again played an awesome set, andcaused the sweat to flow in even greater amounts. Although this setcaused me two great bouts of pain, one from the barrier as my chestwas crushed, and the second came as on fuck nut of a crowd surferlanded on my back, and was dragged off by security. So up yours fucknut.
Finally the Bosstones came on, Dicky Barrett started the show withhis usual line, "We are the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones from BostonMassetusses", I think I spelt that wrong, but who cares. TheBosstones palyed a great show with an encore to boot. They played allthe usual songs, plus a few more, which made for a good length set.Umm I enjoyed it muchly, but it would be nice if some of you guyswould let the collapsing people out of the mosh, as I did. So benice. Well tommorrow I'm off to Sydney to the enmore theatre to seethe Ben Folds Five....
Ben Folds Five (27/07/98)
Well after travelling that afternoon we arrived at the Enmoretheatre with about thirty minutes to spare. The unfotunate thingabout this concert were the seats. I'm sure I would have enjoyed itcountless times more if I had been on the floor rather than on abalcony watching the concert. The support Snout played an awesome setof their normal witty and charming pop to a rather lack luster andunapreciative crowd. That just gave me the shits. But I will nolonger complain.
Not long after Snout finished their set, the Ben Folds Fiveentered the stage. An unfortunate over site in the sound check wasthe excessive volume that was experienced in the seated area. I hopefor the gig the night after the sound people turned the volume downjust a touch. Other than that minor complaint, actually thatcomplaint ruined the evenning slightly for me, the Ben Folds Five puton a very good set, and showed why the are one of the premier livebands touring the world at the moment. Well You Am I should, I hope,be good.
You Am I (11/08/98)
Well this August Tuesday Night turned out to be one of the betterconcerts I've seen this year. From a purely selfish perspective beingan over 18's gig was an obviuos improvement on the gig. SuppportingYou Am I this evenning were the band from the 'gong, Tumbleweed.Whilst they played a good had banging, toe tapping set, whichreminded me very much of their past partners in crime Monster Magnet,they just did not seem to be in a groove for the evenning. Thereseemed to be some tension between Richie and the rest of the band,but oh well they played a good set.
Then came You Am I. The first tracks they played came off theirlatest album. These songs started the brillience that was to be therest of the night. They played a variety of songs from each of thealbums, with the songs from Hi-Fi Way and Hourly Daily, seeminglygetting the best audience response. I glanced down at my watch afterabout six or seven songs, expecting that time had gotten away from usat the gig, but it was only thirty minutes into an eighty-five minuteset and encore, that spanned the space of four records. An obviouscrowd favorite was Berlin Chair, which they played as the second songof the encore, and it was a mighty fine version of that song too. Allin all it was a great night, and again one of the best concerts I'vebeen to this year. Well now I'm broke, so don't expect to see anotherreview until Midnight Oil.
Pitchshifter (27/09/98)
My dislike of the Canberra ban Bock is now justified. This was thesecond time I've seen them as support, and again they were shit. Notcrap, absolute and utter shit. I could pull better shit outa my arse.Well that's my bitch about Bock done. We missed the second supportDreadnaught, but they weren't on for very long. After a short delayPitchshifter came on, they were awesome. Alothough I'd heard only asmall amount of their material before, their current material wasexcellent.Awesome industiral tinged metal. After their set weattempted to get our tickets signed and were successful. All touringmembers of the band signed our ticket stubbs. Next gig Jebediah.
Jebediah (01/10/98)
Well off to see another Austrlian band. This evenning there weretwo support acts, Red Jezabel, who I was less than impressed with,and Bodyjar. Bodyjar played a good set, playing things of both theirdebut album and previously released Ep's. Jebediah were the next bandon the satge. They played a decent set with a lot of stuff from theirdebut, interspersed with Ep and new material. The most annoying thingabout this gig was the last track that they played went on for abouttwenty minutes as a jam session, although this did have a positiveeffect, no encore was called for. Whilst this gig was good, it wasnot up to scratch with some of the other Australian bands I have seenthis year.
Sprung Monkey (04/10/98)
Another totally awesome gig at the Gypsy Bar. Sprung Monkey playeda kickarse set. Whilst not being particularly familiar with theirmusic, what I had heard did not fully prepare me for the depth oftalent that this band posessed. Stuff ranging from regae to more hardrock, they didn't fail to impress. One of the bonuses about this gigwas the number of photo's I had the opertunity of taking, these willhopefully be published here soon. I can't explain this gig,. for sucha small crowd they were really into it. Other than a couple ofincidents involving security guards marring the event, this wasgenuinely a very good gig.
Rock the House (11/10/98)
This gig was to celebrate the 25th aniversary of Sydney's OPeraHouse. The concert hall itself is a truly marvellous venue and inaddition to the perfect accoustics made this concert a pleasure to beat. The two bands I was most impressed withwere Powderfinger, whowill be touring in Canberra in December and Marcy Playgroud. MarcyPlayground are awesome, the sound they get as a three piece out of anaccoustic guitar, a small drum kit and a bass is awesome. A truelymagical band, the only disappointment was the brevity of their set,only 45 minutes, but oh well.
Powderfinger were the other awesome band, and their set just stuckout like a sore thumb for shear brilliance and talent. A band that Iwill definately be seeeing on their next trip to Canberra.
Grinspoon (13/10/98)
Grinspoon were another Aussie band that I had wished to see live.One of the band aussie bands I've seen came up as support, the TestEagles. They were grouse and had a great live sound. Unfortunatelythe other support band did little to impress. Then came the band we'dall waited for, Grinspoon. I take it the lead singer Phil alwayscomes on the staged pissed as a maggot, but surprisingly he performedvery well, if not looking a tad unstable at times. The set theyplayed pleased the crowd tremendously and it was hard not to getcaught up in the waves of the crowd. This was a good liveperformance, although I cannot say it topped some of the other moreimpressive ones.
The Living End (24/10/98)
Well another Aussie band under the belt. I've seen so many thisyear. The Living End were fair, in comparison to many other bandsI've seen, they didn't particularly blow me away, but still played agood set. They did not excel due the venue they played at. TheUniversity of Canberra is not quite the ideal venue so it takes andawefully good band to excel in those circumstances. They still playeda good set, although I tended to think that their old stuff was alittle better than the stuff off their new album, but that's just me.Next Gig the Superjesus again.
