Gig Lists - 2002

Last updated January 2008

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January


29. FOURSTROKE & THREE ORANGE WHIPS
Capital City's "God Botherin' Years" CD Launch @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday January 12th, 2002

Click on X-Press thumbnail to read a review of this show.

Old perthbands thread about the gig


30. ESKIMO JOE & THE SLEEPY JACKSON
@ Newport Hotel, Fremantle, Sunday January 13th, 2001

This gig at the Newport was great, although there were a lot of commercial radio kids in the crowd who looked awfully scared of the Sleepy Jackson (there was a noticeable semi circle of death in front of the stage). The Sleepies line up at the time consisted of Luke Steele, Justin Burford, Rodney Aravena and Mal Clarke. On stage Luke and Justin would essentially fight each other - elbowing and shoving each other as they played guitar!  It was a very entertaining spectacle to watch, and to top it all off the band were playing fantastic rock songs (think Cavities, Packet of Nails, Glasshouses).

During the break between the Sleepy Jackson and Eskimo Joe the semi circle of death in front of the stage promptly disappeared. The DJ managed to make a giant boo-boo at this point of the evening, by playing Eskimo Joe's song Who Sold Her Out!

When Eskimo Joe hit the stage they launched into what was then their pretty standard set (Election -> Wake Up -> Sydney Song -> Head Hurts -> Planet Earth -> Liar -  Driver -> Take A Rest, with the odd old song like Turn Up Your Stereo thrown in along the way). When it came time to play Who Sold Her Out? Kav had a laugh with the crowd about the DJ's stuff up. The set then wound up with either Ruby Wednesday or SMO.

Both bands played excellent sets which I thoroughly enjoyed.


February


31. THE MONARCHS, JED WHITEY & M16s
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday February 2nd, 2002

The press release for this gig read:

After a three-month break from gigging, JED WHITEY returns to the stage on Saturday February 2nd at Amplifier in support of The Monarchs (Sydney). This will be one of very few JW shows before the launch of their new album in March. Joining the festivities will be the M-16s for a three-way death match in which there can be only one winner - Rock and Roll.

This gig was my introduction to the M16s. I quickly learnt that I should invest in a pair of earplugs for future M16s performance as they were INSANELY LOUD.

As for Jed Whitey, the main thing I recall is that halfway through the band's set Luke Mk1 blew up his Amp head.  As a result the band had to abandon their planned setlist (see above), and launched into a number of short hardcore punk songs such as The Butler Did It and We Used Your Record As A Beer Coaster.

Headliners The Monarchs featured Brad Sheppard from the Hoodoo Gurus, as well as Greg Hitchcock of You Am I / Bamboos / Kryptonics fame.  I was expecting big things from the Monarchs but I walked away disappointed.  They played a few killer tracks (2001, 69 Monaro) but overall they sounded very weak or "rock-lite" compared to the brute force of Jed Whitey.

The Monarchs disbanded about six months later.


32. BIG DAY OUT 2002 (All Ages)
@ Claremont Showgrounds, Sunday February 3rd, 2002



In 2002 the Perth Big Day Out had a new location - Claremont Showgrounds. It was a change for the best - there was far more room to move, and no more boiler room / small stage sound problems.  I think 2002 also saw the introduction of the controversial D barrier at the main stage.

The day started off with crap nu-metallers Superheirst on the main stage.  I seem to remember the band's idiot frontman making a lot of stupid remarks. Next up were American's Amen, who put on a far more entertaining show. Singer Casey Chaos leapt around stage like a madman and at one point smacked himself in the head with the microphone until he started pissing out blood. Amen's set seemed very rehearsed and pre-planned, but they were still entertaining (although I don't think I could watch them repeatedly, as their tricks would grow old).

Magic Dirt then played an ok but not outstanding set on the main stage. Likewise, Shihad did their usual thing, but I found them a bit disappointing after the brilliant set I had seen them play a month or so earlier at the Punters Club. From there on I saw bits of lots of bands such as Something For Kate (who were pretty crappy), The ScientistsTomahawk (awesome!), Regurgitator (ok), New Order (ok) and The Prodigy (ok). However my main highlights of the day were Spiderbait, The White Stripes and NoFX.  Spiderbait pulled out a whole stack of old favourites for their set such as Hot Water and Milk, Sam Gribbles and Calypso. As for the White Stripes, they played the small stage, and it was reasonably easy to get to the front of the crowd.  No FX played the final set of the day.  The first 20 minutes of the band's set consisted of Fat Mike telling jokes to the crowd, as either El Hefe or Eric Melvin couldn't get his guitar to work. After much mucking around, changing amps and leads etc, I think the problem was solved by the appropriate band member simply TURNING UP THE VOLUME ON HIS GUITAR!  Due to the lost time NOFX then proceeded to play their songs at an ultra-fast pace so that they could fit as many in as possible. Thanks to Duceman ramming NOFX cds down my throat at high school, I knew most of the songs and I had a ball.

Old perthbands thread about the BDO


33. LASH & GREENROOM (All Ages)
'YacStock Youth Festival' @ George Burnett Park, Karawara, Sunday 10 February 2002

This "Youth Festival" was happening just down the road from where I was living at the time, so I wandered down. I caught the tail end of Greenroom, but I don't really recall anything about them except for that they gave out free CDs. As for Lash, they looked pretty disinterested on stage, which was probably due to there being about 50 people in the audience (mainly mums and 10 year old girls). About a month later there was a write up about the festival in the local community newspaper.  The paper said that Lash played to over 1000 people!  The band actually made a sarcastic crack on the day about the crowd being "really rocking."  There was a huge crowd barrier at the front of the stage, as well as bouncers, both of which were completely unnecessary.

Lash had a reputation for being a terrible live band but they actually sounded quite good this particular day - they were definitely a lot better than the other times I saw them, particularly in the vocal department. Their set included a surprisingly rocking Paul Kelly cover.  I remember being in Margaret River one day in 2001 or 2002 and Lash (minus Belinda) came into the cafe I was in.  They all looked like quite shy, quiet girls (wearing glasses etc) - completely different to when they were on stage and TV.


34. JED WHITEY
supporting Asteroid B612 @ Grosvenor Backroom, Saturday 16th February, 2002

This was a pretty uneventful gig. The crowd was sparse and looked bored, and I only hung around for Jed Whitey and not Asteroid B612.



March


35. GERLING & TURNSTYLE
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday early March 2002

Turnstyle were one of the first Perth bands I ever heard, thanks to Novak's Plan being on an old WAMI sampler, and Spray Water on the Stereo getting flogged on JJJ.  Hence I was quite excited about going to see them live. Unfortunately, as I write my recollections of this gig four years later I can remember next to nothing about their set.  All I remember is that there was a big semi circle of death in front of the stage, and Adem K was trying to convince people to step forward into it (he didn't succeed).

Gerling were quite good and had an awful lot of people in the Amplifier dancing crazily.  I'd say that Gerling inspired more dancing this night than any other band I've seen at the Amplifier ever.  They didn't play Death to the Apple Gerls but the Deer in You and Ole! (deepfryer) got a look in.


36. JED WHITEY, DROPSICK INJECTORS, THE CRITICS & KEN OATH
Mongoloid Cage Match CD Launch @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday March 16th, 2002

This gig was the fantastic launch for Jed Whitey's album Mongoloid Cage Match.  Now, you'd assume that being a CD launch, the disc in question would be available for purchase at the gig.  NOT SO!  High Beam Music, the highly disorganised label putting out the CD, didn't get it pressed in time.  In fact, it wasn't until a month or two after the launch that the CD found its way into stores.  Thankfully Out of the Loop Records (who put out the vinyl version of the album) are a more organised bunch of people, and there were LPs for sale at the launch.

The night kicked off with Ken Oath, followed by the Critics, neither of whom I really remember. However, I do recall the Dropsick Injectors, who were awesome! They played loud, raw punk/hillbilly songs. As Julian Tompkin wrote in his review of the gig for X-Press:

The Dropsick ethic is to play loud, drunk, and as straight forward as possible, with songs titles such as 'Stupid Fuck.' This is punk rock that takes you back to a time when man couldn't walk yet, and clubbing a woman on the cranium ensured the night's tantric activity... The Dropsicks even managed to throw the odd hillbilly 'I'm gonna root your pig and shoot you' country tune into their set.



As a prelude to Jed Whitey's set, the band had a Wesley Willis intro tape and wore masks. Once the songs got underway it was pedal to the metal, balls out rock for the entire set. The band ripped through most of the tracks from their album, as well as a few old favourites including PQ and Pull My Finger, and a few "future classics" such as Hands Up If You Think I'm Cool.

Old perthbands thread about the gig




37. WHITT DJ SET
@ Mojos Bar, Fremantle, Sunday March 24th, 2002

This pseudo-gig happened on the day of the 2002 "Yac It Up" festival, which Spiderbait headlined. Mojo's were holding an official post-YAC afterparty with special secret guests. As I couldn't go to the YAC It Up gig (I had a cricket final that afternoon), I went along to Mojo's hoping to see a Spiderbait secret show. Instead, guitarist Whitt and some dude from OnInc. came out and did pretty boring DJ sets :(


38. SPIDERBAIT & KLIPPSPRINGER
@ The Craic, Hillarys, Thursday March 28th, 2002

Fast forward to a few days later and I managed to see Spiderbait, who were playing at the very unusual venue of the Craic, which is traditionally home to cover bands.  As I wandered into the venue I heard the final strains of Klippspringer's song Tea for Two. I was annoyed, as I would have liked to see the whole of Klippspringer's set (unfortunately I had a dinner to attend before this gig, hence my late arrival).

Spiderbait's set was pretty average. The band looked bored on stage, and they didn't sound great. The crowd was completely fucked... there were a lot of dickhead crowdsurfers, and I got kicked in the head quite a few times. Spiderbait normally plays an encore at the end of their set, but it wasn't to be this particular night - they got off the stage and ran!


39. BORDELLO (All Ages)
@ Donnybrook Apple Festival, Saturday 30th March, 2002


This gig was hilarious, for all the wrong reasons!

Let me set the scene. Donnybrook is a small town about two and a half hours drive from Perth. The major event on the Donnybrook calendar is the town's Apple Festival. The event attracts a couple of thousand people.  As part of the Apple Festival celebrations a few bands play. In 2002, one of the bands booked to play was Bordello. However, somewhere along the line one of the organisers made a serious boo-boo, and accidentally booked the band to play on the day BEFORE the festival. However, Bordello had no idea about this muck up. As a result they traveled for a couple of  hours from Perth to Donnybrook, and instead of playing to a crowd of a thousand people, played to 6 or 7 punters (literally) in a park!  To make things even worse, the band was required to play a full hour long set.

I was staying in the town of Kirup, which is about 15 minutes drive from Donnybrook, the day this all happened. Sometime in the afternoon I drove into Donnybrook and stumbled across the shenanigans that were unfolding. I happened to have a dodgy video camera on me, and I filmed the majority of the gig.  You can download a video from the day by clicking on the link below.  The video is a bit rough/shaky, but it's pretty amusing.  Bordello actually put on a very brave face under the circumstances, and played quite an enthusiastic set.

Bordello - Disastrous Donnybrook video


40. SPIDERBAIT & PURRVERT
@ Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, Sunday March 30th, 2002

This Spiderbait gig was the polar opposite of the one I witnessed at the Craic a few days earlier.  The band was fantastic!

The show happened on a Sunday, however it was the Easter long weekend, and as a result the crowd at Settler's Tavern in Margaret River was enormous, and very rowdy. There was a lot of violent moshing going on, and the band had to stop on a number of occasions and tell people to settle down.

The band were enthusiastic on stage, and sounded great!  I got a position up the front of the stage for the set, and at the end I managed to score Janet's setlist. After the band walked off stage at the end of Calypso there was a big call for an encore, and thankfully the band returned and played Old Man Sam and Pack It Up.

After the gig the band were signing stuff, and I got them to sign my Circle-K single (that's Spiderbait's debut single, from 1991).


April


41. CARTMAN & KARNIVOOL (All Ages)
@ Midland Skate Park Opening, Sunday 14 April 2002


Perth popsters Cartman were getting a lot of airplay and press in early 2002, thanks to the release of their stellar album Go and the radio-single Shock. Being a long time Cartman fan, I was quite excited about seeing the band live for the first time at this all ages gig in Midland.

Before Cartman took to the stage Karnivool were on, but my memory of them is pretty hazy.  All I can really remember is a bunch of teenage kids jumping up and down like crazy at the front of the stage, and Drew's big dreadlocks.

Cartman were fantastic. The band's setlist comprised Today, Drive, George, Marriage, If I and Shock. Unfortunately time restraints meant that Nobody and Go got chopped. I filmed a large portion of this set on a dodgy home video camera.  You can download a couple of songs below.  There is a bit of unnecessary zooming at times, but overall it looks ok, and the sound is remarkably good considering how the crap the in-camera mic was.  The If I video looks better, but George features a bit of crowd banter from Joe Hawkins.

Cartman - If I - stream it here - video
Cartman - George - stream it here - video


42.  ROCKET SCIENCE, FEZ PEREZ, JEBEDIAH, RESIN DOGS, ONE DOLLAR SHORT & 28 DAYS
MARGARET RIVER MASTERS @ Margaret River, Saturday April 20th, 2002

Opening up this mini-festival full of Margaret River surfie-types was Melbourne rockers Fez Perez. They weren't bad... kinda like diluted version of Jed Whitey. Next up were Rocket Science, who played the best set of the night. The band had just put out Contact High, and their set consisted of tunes from the aforementioned record, plus a handful from Welcome Abroad the 3C10, namely Copycat, International Jetset and Burn in Hell, which was the blistering set-closer. Then I had to sit through shitty sets from One Dollar Short and the Resin Dogs before Jebediah took to the stage. Jebs played an excellent, energetic set that blended tracks from their #3 album (Eveready, Yesterday When I Was Brave) with their back catalogue of hit singles. Headlining were 28 Days.  After this gig I had to drive back to Kirup (near Donnybrook, about 60km away) with my brother and we got very lost... we didn't get back there until about 3am.


May


43. TURNSTYLE, SEKIDEN & GYROSCOPE (All Ages)
Turnstyle's Farewell Show @ Amplifier Bar, Saturday May 4th, 2002


The press release for this gig read:

The bottle of portemento has been finished, the wet stereo broken, the purple crown flacid, the bus door closed, and so the troops are marching on…with one final marching song for us all. Turnstyle have decided to call it a day and will be performing their last show at Amplifier Bar on Saturday 4 May. An afternoon all ages event with support from Brisbane's Sekiden and Gyroscope followed by the big final 18+ extravaganza the same evening with support from Sekiden, Team Jedi and Tucker B's.

Both Sekiden and Turnstyle played excellent sets which I thoroughly enjoyed.






44. JED WHITEY
Steve's Farewell Party @ Hyde Park Hotel, Friday May 10th, 2002

This gig featured a stellar line up of Perth punk bands. Unfortunately I only arrived in time to catch Jed Whitey's set. The Hydey was packed but somehow I managed to get myself about one row back from the front of the "stage".  Jed Whitey were very entertaining and Louis was in a jovial mood, making the crowd clap in celebration of "bongs" before the band played Kill Radio.


45. SIMON DAY (RATCAT) & BOB EVANS
@ Inglewood Hotel, Thursday May 30th, 2002

This show was great. I was going through quite a Ratcat phase at the time, so I was very excited about seeing Simon Day playing solo (and acoustic from memory) at the Inglewood . Providing support for the evening was Bob Evans, aka Kevin from Jebediah. I can remember Kev playing Ode to my Car, but not a whole lot else about his set.

Simon Day was pretty trashed when he took to the stage. He admitted this to the crowd, apologising for being "drunk as a skunk." He was so wasted that he played Baby Baby, and then about 10 minutes later he asked the crowd "Umm, have I done Baby Baby yet?" Despite his drunkenness and making a few rudimentary errors on the guitar, Day's set was awesome. It consisted of the some classic Ratcat tunes (Don't Go Now, That Ain't Bad, etc) and a number of new songs, including one written about Phil Jamieson from Grinspoon.  According to Simon, he and Phil had organised to record a song together on a particular day, however Phil never showed up and never called Simon to let him know why he'd been a no show. Feeling like a bride left at the alter on her wedding day, Simon decided to write a song about it. This recording session was meant to be for a solo album that Simon was putting together, however as far as I know it's never seen the light of day.

Towards the end the night Bob Evans returned to the stage and he and Simon played a tune they'd written together called Yes Please! It was a brilliant big singalong number. It would be nice if the pair of them would get around to releasing it one day.


June


46. THE FERGUSONS & RED JEZEBEL
'Home Coming' & 'Never Too Young To Hitchhike' CD Launches (All ages), HQ Leederville, Saturday June 1st, 2002

I'd seen the Fergusons play at the Amplifier in 2001 and hadn't been particularly impressed by them. In between that gig and this one I'd picked up a copy of the Fergies Hurting The Washing Machine EP and taken quite a liking to it. The band was getting a hell of a lot of good press at the time, and they also had a song called Everything's Gone Bad that was getting flogged on the radio, so I went along to reinvestigate them.

Before the Fergusons were Red Jezebel, who were launching their Home Coming EP. The band's set was filled with tracks from that record, a couple off Intermezzo (Driver, The Right Idea), a Pearl Jam cover (Mankind) and a couple of tunes that ended up on Revelations. Someone in the crowd called out for Giddy Up (a very old song off 1998s Joyful Possibilites EP) but they got shut down.  Red Jez's performance was ace, and it convinced me to buy their EP on the way out the door at the end of the gig.

When the Fergusons took to the stage HQ was packed with kids, who all sat on the floor and remained there for the duration of the band's set. It was very indie. Between each Fergie song it was dead silent, which was quite eerie. I was really impressed by the Fergusons, and I especially liked their catchy Weezer-esque tunes such as Seventeen Again and Die. During the middle of latter track singer Al performed an amusing mini-rap. I presume it was a spontaneous decision on his part as I never saw him do it at subsequent Fergie gigs


47. FU MANCHU & JED WHITEY
@ Lookout, Scarborough, Tuesday June 4th, 2002

The trip to this gig was very dangerous. It was pissing down with rain, and as I drove along Scarborough Beach Rd I could literally not see where I was going.  I was dangerously drifting all over the road.

Once inside the safety of the Lookout I saw Jed Whitey play an awesome show. The Fu-Manchu fans looked a little bemused by JW, however there was a healthy group of people up the front of stage supporting the band, including myself and Duceman - who was used as a footstool by Luke Mk.1 for part of the band's set.

Fu Manchu were fucking loud and supremely good. I wasn't particularly familiar with the band's material at the time, however I do know they played Evil Eye, Ojo Rojo and Squash That Fly. Refer to Brett Rowe's review of the gig for further details (click on the "Can't Get Fu Out Of My Head" thumbnail above).


48. M16s, JED WHITEY, CAPITAL CITY & THE FUZZ
Sweet Luck  7" Launch @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday June 8th, 2002

I walked into this gig just in time to catch the Fuzz doing a big rock ending and destroying their drum kit. I was spewing that I'd missed the band's set. Capital City were surprisingly good - I enjoyed them far more than the previous time I'd seen them. Sam Scherr provided the crowd with much amusement by playing the gig with his fly undone whilst wearing no underwear.  At one stage one of Sam's testicles popped out of his pants, and there was some hilarious banter about it onstage. Later on perthbands Sam wrote:

It was only one goolie, to tell the truth. Although most people thought it was my cock. That party trick has been put to bed. I still get twinges in the trouser-titties.

Jed Whitey's set was entertaining, in part due to an inebriated Sam Scherr heckling the band throughout the 40 minutes they were on stage. At one point Sam stormed the stage and took hold of the microphone.  JW were quick to retaliate and put Sam in his place - especially Louis, who repeatedly told Sam that he would shag him after the gig. I have some footage of this set on tape, its on a Jed Whitey DVD that I made.

The M16s were launching their excellent 7" Losing Time / Sweet Luck on the evening, however their set was kinda boring. I think I left early.


49. FRONT END LOADER & JED WHITEY
@ Amplifier Bar, Sunday June 24th, 2002

Hazy memory tells me this show happened on a rainy Sunday night. I believe it was Josie's first Jed Whitey gig. I personally recall nothing about the band's set. Front End Loader I vaguely remember... I thought they were quite good, and Duceman thought they were the best band he'd seen all year.


50. BORDELLO
'21st Century Funk' CD Launch (All ages) @ HQ Leederville, Sunday June 30th, 2002

This show was the all ages launch of Bordello's 21st Century Funk album, and the band's last show in Perth before they moved to Melbourne.  Bordello's music got the kids jumping up and down with excitement, however I was more intrigued on the day by the way the band attempted to flog their merch at every opportunity.


July


51. ROCKET SCIENCE, JED WHITEY & LOCAL PRICKS
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday July 13th, 2002

Now this was a fucking rockshow. Myself, Donna, Merome and Trippo went. I believe that Mems and Trippo had never been to a pub gig in Perth before. Hence they were little disturbed by the punk rock crowd inhabiting the Amplifier while the Local Pricks were playing, as well as Tom and Tash Prick's on stage nudity and masturbation. Wanting to make the poor peeps feel a bit more comfortable, we headed across to Carnegies between the Local Pricks and Jed Whitey's set.  Whilst at Carnegies we proceeded to get very drunk. This meant that when we came back to the Amps and watched JW I thought they were absolutely brilliant. I also loved Rocket Science and thought they played a fantastic set comprising Contact High tunes and the best bits of their first album.  Josafiend was also at this gig and disagrees with my assessment of Rocket Science. She says they were sloppy and noticeably drunk on stage. According to her, the Rocket Science guitarist put a cigarette in his mouth the wrong way round and attempted to light the filter (apparently this is evidence of being insanely drunk).


52. MAGIC DIRT & THE NATION BLUE
@ Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, Friday July 19th, 2002

The first thing that struck me at this gig in Margaret River is that the crowd was a lot smaller than I expected. They were very unresponsive for the Nation Blue, who I thought played a pretty good set.  Magic Dirt got a quite a few people to their feet, and the band played a great set that included RABBIT WITH FANGS!!!  The only bad part of the set was when Magic Dirt played an epic version of I Was Cruel. I love the song, and normally love it live, however the band stretched it on too long on the night.  The 5-10 minutes of tuneless, pointless feedback that the band inserted at the end of the song at this show started to grate after a while.

The Nation Blue wrote some very amusing comments about this gig on their website tour diary:

DAY 30 - Margaret River. Fruits. Most of this crowd. These people dance like Byron Bay people on Horse Tranquilisers and Speed. We had a great show, but it was kinda scary. Apparently, Dean MagicDirt went to the toilet during our set (a place im sure he frequents often when we play) and overheard two guys talking at the urinal saying "THIS IS SUICIDE MUSIC! AND I DON'T WANNA DIE TONIGHT!". There was a canadian club promotion running tonight, where if you "noose the loose moose" you win something. I didn't, but ended up with a toy moose with a tshirt that says "hung like a moose". hilarious.

Old thread about The Nation Blue on perthbands


53. JED WHITEY & TIMES UP
Loaded Student Night @ Newport Fremantle, Wednesday late July 2002

The main thing I recall about the gig is that Dan the drummer from Jed Whitey dared Duceman to stand at the front of the crowd with his arms folded for the duration of the band's set. Duceman also had to say "That's the way" at the end of each song. If Duceman did this he got free beer.  Duceman took up the challenge and completed it successfully.  After drinking his free beer he claims that we went home and passed out in his room with his stereo on, all the lights on, and lasagna that he's just microwaved sitting next to him uneaten.  He says this was Jed Whitey's fault.


August


54. EL HORIZONTE, THE GENERATORS & SOME OTHER BANDS
@ National Campus Band Heat, Curtin Uni Tavern, Friday August 9th, 2002

The weekend before this Campus Band heat Duceman had been totally blown away by El Horizonte at "Massiveheadwound", which was a heavy gig at the Globe Theatre.  After listening to Duceman rave about El Horizonte for a week I wandered down to the Curtin Tav to see what all the fuss was about. The band were first on the bill and performed just four songs, but I was completely stunned by their sound and their hyperactive, microphone swinging frontman.  El Horizonte at this gig made me really, really genuinely excited. They sounded to me a bit like an uptempo version of Kyuss.

I then hung around to hear the results of the heat (El Horizonte ended up winning). In the process I saw a few other bands play, all of whom were pretty crap except for The Generators.  This band comprised of a bunch of old dudes who ruled. Their singer wore tattered leopard print jeans and the bass player had a heap of flashing LED lights on his lead. They told the odd joke here and there, and they had catchy songs including a corker called I'm only it in for the money!


55. EL HORIZONTE & MARALINGA
@ Hyde Park Hotel, Friday August 16th, 2002

A week after being blown away by El Horizonte at Curtin I headed off to see them play on the floor at the Hydey. Before EH played Maralinga were on. I only vaguely remember their set. "Protest songs", "The Clash" and "Reggae" spring to mind for some reason.

El Horizonte were amazing, and this gig confirmed for me that the song March of the Snakes was the best thing since sliced bread. I flogged the band's setlist at the end of the gig.


56. JED WHITEY
@ 3 Bears Bar, Dunsborough, Friday August 30th, 2002

This gig was a special one, for all the wrong reasons.

I was meant to work on the particular Friday on which this gig was held, but I threw a sickie and drove down to Dunsborough to watch my favourite Perth band, Jed Whitey, play what was a highly memorable show. The 3 Bears Bar is a pretty big venue, and the crowd on the evening was small and extremely disinterested in the band.  Unperturbed, the band opened up with an aggressive version of Rock & Roll Saved My Life, followed by Are You Ready To Hate Us? and My Band is Better Than Your Band.  At this point of the night a lady from the crowd came up to Louis from JW and told him that the band was too loud. Louis didn't pay much attention to her, however a couple of songs later the 3 Bears inhouse sound guy also told the band that they were too loud and needed to turn down.  Suddenly what had started as a highly energetic performance turned sour. The band were actually playing with their amps on two, and the sound guy didn't have the guitars coming through the PA, yet he was still telling them to turn down.  The sound guy then threatened to pull the plug on the gig and start playing a CD if the band didn't reduce their volume levels. The boys from Ken Oath (Sex at Gunpoint) were also at this gig and made light of the situation, calling out to Louis and Luke from Jed Whitey "We can't hear you!  Turn up your guitars, we can't hear ya!"  A song or so later the sound guy came good on his threat. The stage lights were turned off, the band left in darkness, and a CD started to play.

Oddly enough, Jed Whitey's set at this gig was the quietest I ever witnessed from them, and the "mix" during their songs was actually excellent. The sound guy really had no reason to get upset and his behaviour was extremely unprofessional.

Thankfully I filmed most of this gig, and I edited up the footage and put it on my old Jed Whitey home video. Extremely funny stuff.


September


57. JEBEDIAH & JED WHITEY
WAMI 2002 Opening Party @ Hyde Park Hotel, North Perth, Thursday September 5th, 2002

Less than a week after the Dunsborough debacle I was at another Jed Whitey show. This gig celebrated the opening of the 2002 WAMI festival. As a result the crowd was huge and packed like sardines inside the Hydey. Thankfully I got a prime position down the front of "stage", where I filmed Jed Whitey and Jebediah's sets. Jed Whitey pulled out all the stops in the stage moves department at this gig, and there was plenty of banter, with Louis declaring the WAMI celebrations to be officially sponsored by the word "fuck." Duceman summed up JW's show nicely on perthbands at the time:

That was the single best set i have seen from JW in aaaages. It rocked harder than the proverbial quarry.

Considering that this gig was celebrating WA music, Jebediah played a highly unusual set.  It included three covers (Redhead and Pace It by Magic Dirt, and Everybody's Happy Nowadays by the The Buzzcocks), Weekend Away and Monument (ancient b-sides), Jerks of Attention, and a couple tunes from their self titled album. It was a highly entertaining stuff, especially the Buzzcocks cover and Weekend Away. The only bad thing about Jebs set was that there was a dickhead young guy in the crowd who between songs kept yelling at the band in a high pitched, whiney voice. This idiot didn't let up for the whole set - seriously, he wouldn't shut up . Unfortunately the guy was rewarded for his behaviour when Jebs asked the crowd to request a song.  The fucker called out for Monument.  Vanessa heard him, and the band played it.

Old perthbands thread about the gig and 2002 WAMIs
Another short one about the gig and old JW road safety ad


58. THE FAUVES
@ Prince of Wales, Bunbury, Friday September 6th, 2002

This Fauves' show at the Prince of Wales in Bunbury was awesome. There was no support band, so The Fauves played two sets, separated by a short interlude. This idea was genius and more bands should do it. During the first set The Fauves flogged the hell out of their just released record Footage Missing.  The second set was all hits and memories.  After the gig the Doctor from the Fauves sold myself and my friend Donna a copy of Footage Missing. During the transaction the Doctor volunteered to sign the album for us (we didn't ask, he just offered). However, the Doctor didn't have a pen on him, so he told us he would just go off and find one and would be back in two seconds. He never returned. While waiting patiently for the Doctor, Donna and I noticed that ageing Fauves bass-player Terry is a real chick magnet. He had a number of very excitable young ladies gathered around him.  Just outside the Prince we also witnessed a rather humorous exchange between a couple of Bunbury kids and Doug, the drummer from the Fauves. The kids were underage and hadn't been able to attend the gig, however they had somehow come to the conclusion that The Fauves had not pulled a very large crowd on the night, and they proceeded to tell Doug all about it.  "There weren't many people inside tonight. You should have seen when Frenzal Rhomb played here, it was packed! You guys had nothing." Doug replied very calmly, telling the youths that The Fauves simply wasn't as popular as Frenzal Rhomb. (In fact, the band had pulled quite a reasonable crowd and the kids had no idea what they were talking about). There was also some drunken Bunbury girl harassing Coxy, demanding that he came to a party she was having that night. He was very polite to her in what appeared to be trying circumstances.  It was reminiscent of that scene in 15 Minutes to Rock where the girl that's young enough to be Coxy's sister is trying to attach herself to him.


59. FOURSTROKE, THREE ORANGE WHIPS & LOCAL PRICKS
WAMI Saturday Spectacular @ the Grosvenor Hotel, Saturday September 7th, 2002


This show at the Grosvenor was fantastic. There was a stellar line up of bands playing across the front room, back room and beergarden. The bill included The Sleepy Jackson, The Fergusons, Love Camp 7 and Klippspringer.  Unfortunately I only saw decent chunks of three bands (Fourstroke, Three Orange Whips and the Local Pricks) as I was still in Bunbury when the show kicked off, and after getting to the gig and checking out the aforementioned bands I nicked off to the Amplifier to see my much-loved Fauves.

The 3 Orange Whips set was a little off on the night, due largely to frontman Dan Duarck having had a huuuuuuggggggggggeeee night the previous evening.  I think Dan later told me that he had had only one hour sleep before he got on stage, and it showed. Check out the pic of poor Dan collapsed next to the Amp!  To make matters worse Whips guitarist James was having problems with his guitar and amp throughout the band's set, and then half of the Grosvenor's PA cut out during the Whips final song. The band apologised for their lackluster show and told everyone that they should instead come and see them at the Hydey the following night.

Fourstroke were totally awesome, very rock and they got a sizeable group of dudes headbanging away.

On perthbands at the time Duceman wrote:

Personally, my highlight was Fourstroke, who rocked my socks off. Unfortunately due to excess alcohol consumption, I missed the rest of the show in favour of passing out in my mates car.

That mate was me!


60. THE FAUVES & KINGPIN
@ Amplifier Bar, Saturday September 7th, 2002

After Fourstroke finished at the Grosvenor, Duceman, Donna and I raced across town to the Amplifier to watch the Fauves.  Only myself and the Don made it inside as an inebriated Duceman passed out in my car before making it inside the Amps.

The Fauves were brilliant.The highlight tune of the night was Sunbury 97 - sadly the only song off Lazy Highways that got an airing.  During I Love the Fight Game Terry took over guitar duties and demonstrated his proficiency at playing a mean guitar solo. The Amplifier was nicely populated with patrons during most of The Fauves set, however towards the end the size of the crowd swelled considerably as a heap of people who had been at the WAMI spectacular at the Grosvenor came over (they got in for free after midnight).  The Fauves left the stage after Give Up Your Day Job, however there was a genuine call for an encore and thankfully the band returned.  They played my personal favourite tune from their Footage Missingg album - Right Wing Fags - followed by Dogs are the Best People, which went down a treat with the audience.


61. EL HORIZONTE
WAMI Rock Showcase @ Hyde Park Hotel (in the big Comedy room), Sunday September 8th, 2002

The lineup for this special WAMI rock showcase consisted of The Fuzz, El Horizonte, Capital City, Three Orange Whips and Fourstroke. Unfortunately I only saw El Horizonte as I then headed down to Freo to see the Fauves (again). EH played a reasonable set but there was no atmosphere, which was mostly to do with the venue. The gig wasn't held in the normal bar at the Hydey - instead it took place over in the big room where stand up comedy nights are usually held. It's a big room with a big stage, and at the time of the afternoon that El Horizonte were on there weren't many punters there.


62. THE FAUVES
@ Newport Hotel, Fremantle, Sunday September 8th, 2002

This gig was my third Fauves show in three days, and it was probably the best of the lot. The show was so exciting, from the opening pulse of Celebrate the Failure, right until the very spectacular encore consisting of Right Wing Fags, Self Abuser and Everybody's getting a three piece together. I remember that Coxy put his guitar down during the latter two tunes and leapt around the stage singing. It was great.

Myself and my friend Donna were very sad at the end of this gig, as it signalled the end of The Fauves tour. We really wanted to go and see the band again the next night.   These shows inspired an insane amount of Fauves-devotion on my behalf over the ensuing months and years.


63. THE FERGUSONS
JJJ Live at the Wireless Broadcast @ ABC Studios Perth, Monday September 9th, 2002


This gig was my sixth in four days. The line outside the ABC studios when I arrived (about 90 minutes before the broadcast kicked off) was enormous. In the past JJJ had limited the number of punters that could attended the Perth live at the wireless gig - usually by issuing a small amount of tickets via competitions on the radio. However this time around it was a free for all and anyone could turn up, and boy, did people turn out in droves.  The Fergusons received quite a shock when they saw several hundred people crammed into the ABC studios to see them. The Fergies played a couple of tunes the crowd to soundcheck (17 Again and something else), and then about 20 minutes later the gig proper began. The Fergusons' played brilliantly and the crowd was enthusiastic in return.  X-Press reviewer and massive Fergusons fan Julian Tompkin was later interviewed on Triple J about this gig, and he declared it to be the best Fergusons show that he'd ever seen.


64. LOCAL PRICKS, DISGRACELAND & EL HORIZONTE
'Loaded' Student Night @Newport Fremantle, Wednesday September 18th, 20022

This gig happened on a Wednesday night in Freo.  My memory of the evening is pretty hazy, but I do remember that El Horizonte's set totally kicked ass. Disgraceland, however, were pretty boring.  I can't remember anything about the Local Pricks. There was a reasonably large crowd in attendance for a weeknight, which may have had something to do with the $2.50 middies that were on sale.

You can look at the setlist that El Horizonte played by clicking on the thumbnail to the left.


65. EL HORIZONTE, THE FUZZ, TRAGIC DELICATE & MORE
National Campus Band Comp Semi Finals @ Grosvenor Backroom, Thursday September 19th, 2002


I went along to this Campus Band semi-final to barrack for El Horizonte and The Fuzz.  Also on the bill were Aven, Tragic Delicate, Reeb and Dyslexic Fish.

At the time I thought that El Horizonte's set was very average compared to the one they played the night before in Fremantle.  The band looked like they were trying too hard to impress the judges, and things just didn't come together on stage.  I guess that can be put down to the nature of the gig - a stressful band comp final.  I thought that The Fuzz were even worse than El Horizonte!  Abbe was extremely drunk, Jiah couldn't see out of one of his eyes (he had a giant patch over it), and the band's whole set was a shambles.  This gig took place before the band's JJJ-Unearthing, and they were playing songs that have long since gone by the wayside (Home, Chump City, Elephant Song, Comic Book).

The best part of the night was definitely the MC who was cracking bad jokes in between the bands.

The two place-getters from the semi that advanced to the state Campus Bands Grand Final were Tragic Delicate and El Horizonte. Dyslexic Fish also scored a wildcard entry into the final.

I have some dodgy video of El Horizonte and The Fuzz's sets at this show.  These videos are pretty rough and a bit shaky, but they give you some idea of where the bands were at at the time.

The Fuzz - Video - watch it here
El Horizonte - African Reef Boulevard - watch it here

Old perthbands thread about Campus Band Semi Finals



October


66. EL HORIZONTE, VOYAGER, DYSLEXIC FISH, GRAND CENTRAL, TRAGIC DELICATE, GOD FEARING REPUBLICANS & BESIDE THE POINT
National Campus Band Comp State Final, The Globe, Perth, Friday October 4th, 2002

This gig, the 2002 WA Final of the National Campus Bands Competition, was highly entertaining and amusing.  You can read Brett Rowe's X-Press review for a full run down of the evening (click on the thumbnail to the left).  You can also read the obligatory bitching from the following week's Reactions.

Metal band Voyager played a fantastic set.  There were stellar guitar solos galore and the band took the mickey out of themselves.  At one point they played a medley of famous metal riffs.  This went down a treat with the audience, partly because there were A LOT of Voyager mates/fans in attendance who were shouting out the band's name and head banging wildly at the front of stage.  As well as being extremely humorous, Voyager's songs were surprisingly melodic and accessible - the sort you want to sing along to out loud.  Voyager were so entertaining and got such a huge crowd response compared to the other bands on the bill that it seemed as though the Campus Band crown was theirs.

Enter El Horizonte who played a fantastic set when the pressure was really, really on.  In a surprising move, the band ended their set with a slow song (either Diago or Renaissance Man).  It was a good decision, as it was an awesome performance and really demonstrated how good and diverse the band's song writing was.

Duceman and I went to this gig barracking for El Horizonte, and we were stoked when they were announced the winners of the comp.  There were a lot of pissed off Voyager supporters in the audience who were unhappy with the decision (Voyager came 2nd or 3rd).

Future El Horizonte manager Heath Bradby summed up the night aptly at the time on perthbands:

That was the best quality final I have seen in ages. I'll be getting off my fat ass to see shows by most of those bands soon. Voyager were particularly entertaining, I had tears in my eyes, I'm just not sure what of, joy or laughter. Best 20 minutes ever. I gotta get out more.

Old perthbands thread


67. JED WHITEY, AIDS & THE VOLCANICS
Jed Whitey Farewell Show @ Hyde Park Hotel, North Perth, Saturday October 5th 2002


This gig was Jed Whitey's last in WA before Luke Marinovich moved to Sydney. It was a horrible stormy night outside the Hydey, but inside the place was packed with punters.

All of the bands on the bill played excellent shows, in particular Jed Whitey.  This gig is the only time I've ever seen the band play an encore.  To be more correct, JW finished their scheduled set, and the crowd screamed and yelled for more.  The band deliberated amongst themselves for a while and then launched into an impromptu version of Take Me To Your Dealer.  The band didn't actually leave the "stage", and Luke announced to the crowd that "encores are gay"... but I maintain that THEY PLAYED AN ENCORE.

The photos you can see come from the old Jed Whitey website. You can spot Duceman in the coloured one. Speaking of Duce, he summed up the night nicely on the old perthbands website:

I'd like to say cheers to JW for an awesome set last night. The only thing missing was an animal sacrifice and devil locks all round. Good luck to Luke on whatever he does in Sydney, and hopefully you can get back a couple of times to do some shows! P.S. I was very impressed with AIDS...that's some intense shit right there.


68. JEBEDIAH, ESKIMO JOE & THE SLEEPY JACKSON
@ Matt O'Connor Benefit Gig, Raffles Hotel, Saturday October 26th,  2002

This gig was held as a fundraiser for Matt O'Connor, the former bass player in the Sleepy Jackson. O'Connor was involved in a tragic road accident in September 2001 that left him in hospital. The Steele family put together a stellar line up of Perth bands to raise money for Matt's ongoing treatment. All of the bands played 20 minute sets except for the three headliners (Jedediah, Eskimo Joe and The Sleepy Jackson).  The gig must have started really early, because I arrived around 8 or 9pm-ish and The Sleepy Jackson were already on stage.  The Sleepies were my musical highlight of the evening.  The band sounded great, Packet of Nails was amazing and Justin and Luke were doing their usual guitar-fisticuffs on stage. 

Eskimo Joe were a bit of a let down.  The Joes' stopped playing songs off their early EPs at the WAMI Closing Party the month before this gig.  Hence their benefit-gig set consisted of a few Girl-album tracks and a lot of 'new' songs.  I can't remember exactly what the 'new' tunes were, but they were in the vein of the slower tunes on the band's A Song is a City album.  I remember being a bit bored and kinda sad.

Following a few touching speeches by the Steele and O'Connor families, Jebediah got the music rolling again. Despite dwindling crowd numbers Jebs played a top set.  I seem to recall that a fairly large portion of the tunes came from the band's Of Someday Shambles record... I distinctly remember Star Machine, and I think my personal-favourite Skin even got a run.

After the gig I ended up staying the night at the Raffles.  In the room next to mine was an old dude who had a hooker entertaining him.  Bizzare stuff.

The Matt O'Connor benefit gig attracted over 900 punters and raised over $25,000.  Sadly, Matt passed away about a year after the concert.


November


69. JEBEDIAH, EL HORIZONTE & GRAND CENTRAL
@ Rosemount Hotel, Saturday November 30th, 2002

This gig was my first show at the newly-refurbished Rosemount Hotel.  El Horizonte, however, were fantastic.  You can look at the band's setlist at this gig by clicking on the thumbnail to the left.  Duceman summed up El Horizonte's set nicely on perthbands following the gig:

For my money, El Horizonte were shit hot on Saturday night. Shit fucking hot. Their new stuff fucking rips, and for once I could almost hear what Ben was singing. These guys just keep on improving.

My memory of Jebediah is pretty hazy, but I remember that they were good, there was a lot of dancing go on at the front of the stage (actual dancing, not moshing), and Ben from El Horizonte standing next to me yelling out for songs off Slightly Odway.

Old perthbands thread about the gig


December


70. SIX FOOT HICK, LOCAL PRICKS, CAPITAL CITY & THE COFFINS
'We have come to fuck your horses and ride away on your women' tour @ Grosvenor Backroom, Saturday December 7th, 2002

According to Benny Mayhem's Repugnant Creatures zine this gig was billed as being part of Six Ft Hick's We Have Come To Fuck Your Horses and Ride Away On Your Women tour. If he's not taking the piss, that is the best name for a tour ever.

I don't remember much of the Coffins set, but I do recall a bit about Capital City. Russ's drumming was awesome and band's performance was pretty energetic.  To close their set they played a great cover of You're Gonna Miss Me by the 13th Floor Elevators.  Local Pricks then did their usual thing, playing fast punk songs and getting nude.

Six Ft Hick were awesome. Not as good as the first time I saw them, but still fantastic.  Manic frontmen Ben and Geoff Corbet managed to scare the shit out of a male punter who jumped the crowd barrier and hopped on stage, ripping a heap of his clothes off.  At the end of the band's set one of the Corbett's got up on the Grosvenor's lighting rig and started swinging wildly, eventually flinging himself down into the crowd.  Speaking of the crowd, they completely trashed the Grosvenor's punter barrier at the end of the gig.  The thing was destroyed!

The other thing I remember about this gig is that a guy in a wheelchair spotted me wearing my Jed Whitey t-shirt that says "Kiss Me: I'm Retarded."  The dude approached me and said that he thought the t-shirt was hilarious, and he wanted to buy one (seriously, he wasn't taking the piss).  He then followed Duceman and I around for the rest of the night.

You can also find a heap of Six Ft Hick photos from this gig on Brad Zoob's Perth Pix page - here's the link! (the photos above are borrowed from his website).


71. THE FAUVES & IRWIN THOMAS
@ Tarwin River Hotel, Tarwin River, Victoria, Saturday December 28th, 2002

In late 2002 my friend Donna and I were lucky enough to go on a short holiday to Victoria. Originally we planned on spending about three days in Melbourne before traveling up to Lorne for Falls Festival. However, we then discovered that The Fauves were playing a gig in rural Victoria during our holiday.  Being Fauves-fanatics, we decided to cut short our time in Melbourne and instead venture out to the country to see the band play.  We didn't have a car, so it was by public transport and taxi that we made the 165 km trek to the tiny town of Tarwin Lower.

I wrote the following recollection/review of our experience the day after the gig.

Tarwin Lower is a tiny town of around 200 people that bills itself as “ Victoria’s Best Kept Secret.” Perhaps "Victoria's Best Kept Shithole" would be more appropriate. Tarwin River reminded me of the crappy little outback towns I’ve had the misfortune of driving through on the way from Esperance to Perth. This may be a harsh assessment, as Donna and I had no transport to explore the area surrounding the town. However, as for the town itself, there was a general store, a servo, pub, and that’s about it.

As soon as we arrived in the town we tried to check into our accommodation – the Tarwin River Motel. This proved difficult, as the couple running the establishment were having a domestic on the lawn opposite the motel’s office. After they had settled down (which literally took about 10-15 minutes) we finally approached them and they showed us to our room.

We soon left the motel and trekked about 20 seconds up the road to the Tarwin River Hotel, which is where the night’s gig was going to take place. The setup of the hotel is quite similar to Settlers Tavern in Margaret�River, except the Tarwin River Hotel is larger and a bit nicer. Inside the pub there were lots of blokes wearing tight footy shorts and numerous little kids were running around. I nervously approached the bar and asked for a middie. The bar lady immediately turned her nose up at me and then looked stunned for a minute. She finally broke her silence by saying “We don’t normally serve them (middies) out here. We serve pots. You’re in yokel town now! (snigger, snigger)”

After drinking the aforementioned beer, Donna and I left the pub and walked down the road to Tarwin River Take Away, where I ordered some fish and chips. The lady who served us was the angriest, most unfriendly person that I have ever seen in customer service. In the two days we were in Tarwin Lower the frown never moved from the woman’s face. This was hardly surprising, given that the shop she runs charges you extra money to put salt on your chips, a surcharge of $1 to use EFTPOS, and has a sign on the counter that says, “We have a deal with our bank… they don’t serve take away and we don’t give credit.”

By this time it was about 3pm. Donna and I headed back to our motel room. I started to fiddle with a crappy video camera that I had brought along on the trip. I was going to use the camera to film some of The Fauves' set. Unfortunately,� my “fiddling” resulted in me breaking the side door of the camera and destroying the camera’s tape loading mechanism. Hence, no filming would be happening. I was annoyed.

Donna and I wandered down to the hotel for tea just before� 7pm . We were surprised to find that we couldn’t get a table (people from the towns surrounding Tarwin Lower flock to the hotel, which is how it makes its money). The hotel was so busy that it would not take any more orders for food, and we were told that we would have to go elsewhere. So, Donna and I trekked down to buy some food from the General Store, only to find that it was shut. We had only one option left – going back to the grumpy lady at the take away shop. However, we soon discovered that the take away shop was also extremely busy and that there was over an hour long wait to get any hot food. As a result, I ended up buying a kit kat and a packet of twisties for tea, and Donna bought nothing.

We sat down outside the town’s General Store and I began to eat my twisties. Some local youths walked past us and sniggered, “HAHA HOW YOU GOING MATE? ENJOYING YA TWISTIES! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

By this time both Donna and I were very frustrated with Tarwin Lower.� We'd been sniggered at by bar staff, heckled by the locals, had no food and I’d broken my already-crappy video camera. Our holiday had gone pear shaped. At 8.45pm we went back to the hotel, where we remained until 9.45pm, at which time everyone got kicked out and then had to re-enter to see the bands. As we'd made such an effort to get to the gig, Coxy from The Fauves had kindly offered to put Donna and I on the door list. For some strange reason Donna decided that she didn't want to get marked off the doorlist, and as a result we paid to get in!

The support band for the night was Irwin Thomas, who played a surprisingly good set. When Irwin Thomas started playing there was only about 30 people in the audience, however by the time they finished the crowd had built up to about 100. It slowly continued to build during the next 55 minutes – which was how long it took Irwin Thomas to get off stage and for The Fauves to finally start playing.

Donna and I jumped towards the front of the stage as the band commenced their set by kicking into Ticket to the Big Time. Next up was Phasing You In, which Coxy said the band hadn’t played for a long time because it had been so unpopular. At this point a female patron approached the stage and asked the band to turn down.
“This is a rock show madam, which by definition are loud,” responded Coxy, “Carols by Candlelight was last week love.”  The next song was Medium Pacer, which Coxy insisted the Doctor had co-written with former Australian cricketer John McGuire. Then came two of the highlights of the night – Don’t Get Death Threats Anymore and Skateboard World Record, neither of which Donna or I had heard live before. About this time Terry got talkative and decided to repeatedly say “Penis” into his microphone. Then, after a rocking version of Insert Your Life, old Ted decided to tell the crowd that the song was in fact called "Insert Your Cock Here."

Around this time a lady who had been dancing in front of stage asked Coxy if he could get the rest of the crowd to sit down so that she had more room to dance. Coxy told her she was doing fine, and that it would wreck the vibe if everyone sat down. The great tunes rolled on in the form of Good Times Coming, One of the Girls and the funky Nyrobi Nights. Terry was bouncing around rather excitedly on bass, and even the usually-forlorn looking Doctor appeared to be happy! Next up came another highlight and a song that we hadn’t heard live before - Taking the Uni Student Out to the Country.

Mr Cox then announced that from this point on it would be all hits and memories, at it certainly was! �Donna and I were quite anxious to hear some Lazy Highways material and the band didn’t disappoint, cranking out a typically rocking version of Sunbury ’97, as well as The Charles Atlas Way (which Ted told the crowd was called “The Penis Atlas Way”). Somewhere around this time some dickhead in the crowd started to shout out for Dogs Are The Best People.
“Your request has been noted and filed,” remarked Coxy.
“Don’t fucking file it, play it!” yelled the dickhead. Coxy then ended the conversation rather abruptly.
“With all respect to your sir, that kind of attitude gets our backs up, so we are not going to play it.”

The band’s response when someone called out for the old Young Need Discipline track Man Lessons was far more pleasant. Terry laughed and said, “Now that is funny,” while Coxy muttered “Nah, I don’t need to take man lessons anymore. I get laid all the time now.” A few minutes later Bigger Than Tina, Celebrate the Failure and Give Up Your Day Job had come and gone, and the band left the stage. I soon discovered that it is not only WA crowds that do piss poor calls for encores - it happens in Tarwin Lower as well. Thankfully the band did return and they played the bloody dog song. This was the worst part of the evening. The idiot from earlier in the night got rewarded, and the band looked like they were just going through the motions. I would have much rather seen them play another song… Marble Arse, Dwarf on Dwarf, Kickin On, Tying One On, Right Wing Fags… anything. Luckily the lackluster Dogs performance simply served as a bit of ‘down time’ before the pinnacle of the night.

Earlier in the evening I had spotted The Fauves former bass player Jack wandering about the place. After Dogs, Doug left the stage, Terry jumped on the drum kit, and out onto stage came Jack!!! The band then launched into Self Abuser. Jack was smiling and laughing a lot but he couldn’t really remember how to play the song (he’d had too much gin, according to Doug). Terry’s drumming also left quite a bit to be desired (however it was hilarious watching old Ted beat away, looking like he was about to keel over and have a heart attack any second). The whole song sounded pretty bad, yet this didn’t matter- the performance was absolutely awesome to watch. The band then exited the stage for good. I was intending to grab a set list, however other patrons snatched up the three accessible ones before I had a chance to get near them. I asked a security man who was guarding the stage if he could grab Doug’s set list for me, but his response of “Fuck Off” gave me the impression that he wasn’t going to get it.

The next day Donna and I discovered that a number of Taxi companies didn’t want to take us up the road to this little town called Fish Creek - where we needed to go so that we could catch the bus back to Melbourne – for less than $70. We were pretty broke so this was a major problem. Thankfully, we eventually found a taxi company that would take us there for about $30.

As a closing note, I would like to add that while in Tarwin Lower I discovered the worst public toilet in the history of the world.

Looking back now I'm glad Donna and I ventured out to Tarwin Lower. The town is probably not so bad if you have transport and can trip off to the nearby bays and beaches.  I'm very thankful that I got to witness the Fauves play such a memorable set.  Incidentally, The Fauves recently played another show in Tarwin Lower and Coxy has written about it on the band's website.  Click here (go to the August 30, 2005 Diary entry).


72.  THE SLEEPY JACKSON, THE STALKERS, THE CASANOVAS, WARPED, XAVIER RUDD, 1200 TECHNIQUES, BRAD, GRINSPOON & MORE
FALLS FESTIVAL, DAY ONE @ Lorne, Victoria, December 30th, 2002

I thought things could only get better after my disastrous 2001 Falls Festival experience. How wrong I was. I ventured along to the first day of the Falls in 2002 and again proceeded to get cold and sick - so sick that I missed the second day of the falls for the second year in a row.

Day one of the Falls started off alright, with the weather fine and all star band the Stalkers (Regurgitator, Hard Ons) doing their 70s punk rock revival thing on the main stage.  I then went and saw The Sleepy Jackson on the small tent stage.  The band played an amazing set. They started off with that some poetic spoken word song (Fill Me With Apples or one of the Vampire Racecourse b-sides??? I can't remember).  They then played all the usual suspects - Good Dancers, Packet of Nails, Cavities, Miniskirt, and an absolutely killer version of Glasshouses to finish the set.  Luke was happy on stage and got quite excited when he spotted the members of former Perth band Bordello in the audience. The Sleepy Jackson were definitely my musical-highlight of the day.  It was kind of strange venturing all the way across to Victoria from Perth and then going to watch a Perth band play - and discovering that they were better than everyone else!

Following the Sleepy Jackson I stayed in the tent and saw Charlie Pickering and some other people do some stand up comedy.  It was a big mistake as Charlie was shit and I missed Even as a result (they were playing on the main stage at the same time).  After the comedians finished Xavier Rudd came on stage. The crowd had been pretty disinterested in the Sleepy Jackson and the comedy, but they got all excited when they saw Xavier.  I, however, was not excited, and I didn't want to listen to him so I left and went back to the main stage where Warped were played.  I was expecting big things from them, but I was left disappointed.  They might have been loud, but they just didn't have any songs that grabbed my attention. Following Warped I had the choice of enduring some fucked hippie-roots bands on the small stage or 1200 Techniques (whom I HATE) on the main stage. 1200 Techniques got the nod and it was agony, as main man NFA did these terrible "freestyle raps."

By this time the sky had turned grey it started to piss down with rain.  As a result myself and 90% of other patrons crammed ourselves under the few sheltered parts of the Falls.  This meant that I watched the Casanovas from a hundred metres or so back from the stage. The night from here on is a bit of a blur... I think I saw a bit of Brad, MGF, Grinspoon... and spent a lot of time trying to shelter from the cold and calm a terrible head ache by watching Goodies movies in the Falls chill out Cinema. When the buses from the festival site to Lorne town centre started running again at midnight myself and Donna made a prompt escape back to our motel room.

As mentioned above, the next day I was still feeling shit and the weather was all wet and rainy. I unhappily decided to preserve what little health I had left by not going back to the Falls. Bands on the bill for the second day of the Falls included: Jet, You Am I, Magic Dirt, Jack Johnson, Black Eyed Peas, Rocket Science, Butterfly Effect, The Vandals, The Ataris, Pete Murray and Groove Terminator. There's some good and bad acts on that list... I would have liked to see You Am I, Magic Dirt and the Vandals.

After spending the first half of the second day of the Falls in bed, I started to feel a bit better.  Donna and I toyed with the idea of catching a last minute bus back to Melbourne and going to an awesome NYE show that was happening at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda.  We did a ring around of hotels in St Kilda but couldn't find any accommodation within our price range (we were short on cash by this time of the trip) so we just ended up spending the night in the Lorne town centre.  It retrospect its a pity we didn't go to the Espy gig, because there were some cool bands on the bill (e.g., DAN KELLY & THE ALPHA MALES)