Gig Lists - July to December 2003
Jul \ Aug \ Sep \ Oct \ Nov \ Dec
July
99. JET
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday July
4th, 2003
I ended up seeing Jet by accident on this particular Friday night. Originally I went to the Hydey where the annual Jump for Joy fundraiser (featuring The Panics, The Fuzz, Bank Holidays and Capital City) was taking place. The crowd was huggggggggge and it was very hot and stuffy inside. Duceman was along for the ride and feeling a bit sick so we thought we'd escape all the heat and people and head over to the Amplifier where Jet, the Mess Hall and El Horizonte were playing. When we arrived we spotted Dan the affable bass player from EH outside the entrance and we went and talked to him for a while. I like Dan. He's always been very friendly at gigs and his band kicked ass. Standing with Dan was this tallish young woman who I recognised from Fergusons' shows. It was their manager Sarah. I said, "Hey, do you manage a band called The Fergusons?" to which she replied something along the lines of, "Ermm... yes... they're shit, I hate them." I think she thought I was going to slag them off. I proceeded to do the complete opposite and have a rant about how great I thought the Fergusons were and how I had a video I made about them at the WAMIs sitting on my computer at home.
Anyhow, I then paid my $12 to go inside the Amplifier to see Jet. Duceman also paid his money, walked inside for about 30 seconds, then walked out again and sat at the kebab shop outside amps for the next hour because he felt like he was going to throw up.
Jet came out onto stage apparently all wearing the same clothes that they had worn at their gig the previous night at the Swan Basement. So beware wannabe Jet groupies, THE BAND SMELLS. The room was healthily populated but not overly enthusiastic in their response towards the band. Get Born was still a few months away from release at the time. I remember Nick Cester saying, "This is going to be the first single from our album" before they played Are You Gonna Be My Girl?. At the end of the set the band raced off stage and didn't return, even though the crowd was waiting for an encore.
There were free Jet promo CDs given out at this gig to the first 100 people through the door. I didn't get one because I got there too late, however I know that Josafiend got one and went home and put it in her microwave. This apparently resulted in some spectacular fireworks.
100. EL HORIZONTE & TRAGIC DELICATE plus DJ
HEATH!
@ Newport Hotel, Fremantle, Wednesday July 9th, 2003
I rate El Horizonte's set at this gig as the best I ever saw them play. Everything came together perfectly, both in terms of the songs they played, the mix on the night, and their stage presence. At the time I wrote on perthbands:
I've been going to see El Horizonte regularly for the last year or so and I think that the band's set on Wednesday was one of, if not the best, that I've ever seen them play. They sounded super tight and the three new songs they played were really good. And contrary to recent criticism, Ben's vocals were very clear. Whatever Heath's done to em'... it's working!
Tragic Delicate were also pretty good.
101. THE FERGUSONS, LITTLE BIRDY, TUCKER Bs, KAV (ESKIMO JOE)
@ Sinner is Red CD Launch, Rosemount Hotel, North Perth, Saturday
12 July 2003
This was a messy night. There was FREE BEER at this CD Launch between 7.30 and 8pm. I was there at 7.30 on the dot. The attraction of free booze even convinced indie-hating Duceman to come along. We had some system worked out where we were collecting beers every few minutes and storing them on a table. We ended up with such a large collection of drinks that I was indulging in free booze way past 8pm. I hadn't had much to eat and am a bit of a Cadbury kid so I was trashed pretty quickly. As a result the bands' sets are all a bit of a blur.
What hazy memories do I have of the acts? First up was Kav from Eskimo Joe playing solo. I don't think I paid much attention during this set because myself and Duceman met / were talking to band manager/tour guru/master chef/perthonality Heath Bradby. This was pretty interesting because Heath went to same high school as we did in Esperance for a few years and he has some pretty interesting stories to tell about his time there.
After Kav was the Tucker Bs. I think they were quite good but I really can't remember very well. I was too drunk to know what was going on during Little Birdy's set. I stopped drinking at some stage and sobered up a little before The Fergusons came on, but things are still pretty hazy. All I really remember is that the Rosemount was really packed out while they were on stage.
The day after the gig I wrote on perthbands:
I want to apologise to anyone that I talked to at the cd launch last night. Not enough food + too much free beer = drunken dave. This resulted in an interesting night nonetheless... I got to meet Heath and hear about his troubled country upbringing and rant drunkenly about Weezer to Al Ferguson in the Gents. Thankfully I sobered up enough to enjoy the Ferguson's set! Speaking of the gents, there is a Gents and a Ladies toilet at the Rosemount, isn't there? Every time I happened to go to the toilet there were females inside asking if it was a unisex toilet, which was strange. Also it was nice of Duceman to personally shake everyone's hand as they left the venue and tell them "Thanks for coming on behalf of the Fergusons.
I am pretty sure I was in the Gents, not the Ladies.
Duceman wrote on perthabnds:
There is a substantial amount of time that I simply cannot account for. I'm pretty sure I passed out in the carpark. My Dad was fairly amused when I called him to check the footy scores. He assures me I made no sense whatsoever.
102. SUBTRUCK, HEADSHOT, HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMP & BESIDE THE POINT
@ Sic Session Live Recording, Amplifier Bar, Friday July 18th, 2003
My vague memory of this gig is that it was pretty awesome. Subtruck, Headshot and Heavy Weight Champ were all getting their sets professionally recorded (audio and video) for a live release by local heavy label Sic Squared. The gig also doubled as Duceman's "Going Away to Esperance Before Going Away To America for 6 Months" bash.
At the time I wrote on perthbands:
This was a particularly memorable gig. Subtruck rocked the house once again and the other bands weren't too shabby either.
QUOTE - burb Posted on Jul 21 2003, 12:54 AM
'I had a great time at this gig also. Boy, did I get steamingly pissed
though'
Unfortunately Burb's drunken behaviour involved him inadverntantely
spitting all over my face as he drunkenly rambled away.
Just as I had wiped the mess from my eyes, the spit came
flying out again!
After the gig I remember staying back at the Amplifier for a while. At some point in the night Tash from the Local Pricks told Duceman:
I don't want you to go (to America). There should be a wami just for you, for best fan!
Apparently a whole lot of perthbands people were also trying to get Melie drunk at this gig (read more below)
After the gig Duceman wrote on Perthbands:
Big ups to everyone that came last night, it was an absolute blast. Special thanks to Dave, Archfiend, Josie, Burb, that english chick, and that other girl. T'was a good gig to go out on.
Josie wrote:
aww, shucks liam. many thanks to you too. i had such a fun night. it was an awesome gig.
Archfiend wrote:
Yes, what a great night...The archfiend is still paying for VAST amounts of fiendishness racked up on Friday... I bought several beers when I was already quite tipsy - to toast Duceman farewell: water just wasn't going to do the trick...and/or I couldn't get Melie pissed, so I got pissed on her & MY behalf...We did eventually make Melie drink a stollie. Its a start. I'll take it one gig at a time... work my way up to 5 stollies, switch to double bourbons, then start on shooters...mwahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa... Mongoloid Dave handcuffed me to the bottom rung of a bar stool.. I ferreted out a few sock puppets: (you can pay me in CASH for my silence)and it was - as always a splendid affair seeing all you sexy sexy people....and 451 is the bomb. Happy Fishing Duceman.
103. THE FUZZ & THE ARACHNIDS
@ The Carlton Hotel, Perth, Saturday July 19th, 2003
I went along to a housewarming/dinner at a friend's place on Wellington St before this gig. When the people at the housewarming decided to go to some dodgy nightclub I ducked off to the Carlton to catch the tail end of the Arachnids and The Fuzz, who were shit hot. I don't remember any specifics from the night except that it was Abbe Fuzz's birthday. Someone asked how old she was, to which she replied, "Sweet sixteen."
104. VOYAGER, HEAD FILLED ATTRACTION + MORE
@ NBT Heats, Rosemount Hotel, Wednesday July, 2003
This was a Next Big Thing heat at the Rosemount. I can't remember much about it except that HFA won easily. One reason they stood out from the other bands is that for their set they brought in their own lighting rig and guy, and hence their stage show looked mighty impressive. I can't remember much about the music on the night, but on perthbands I said that:
Boot's rather awesome semi-airborne bass playing last night 'twas impressive
Voyager were also pretty damn cool.
105. THE VOLCANICS & THE FUZZ
@ Whitesands, Scarborough, Saturday July 23, 2003
After this gig I wrote on perthbands:
The Fuzz have been damn good live recently so tonight I
journeyed out to the Whitesands in Scarborough where
they were playing with the M16s, the
Volcanics and the
Coffins (supposedly - they didn't show up even though they
were booked).
Something really strange happened at the start of the
Volcanics set. The singer basically ripped the shit out of
the whole crowd, completely out of the blue, telling them
that the bands didn't come to Scarborough often, they
weren't going to come back for a long time, and that the
crowd could basically shove their "so called rock and roll"
up their arse. He also mentioned how he loved the coffins
and something about them not playing. It was all really strange and confusing
and really made no sense. The crowd was pretty large and
reasonably attentive towards the bands, especially
considering they were originals in a cover-band haven, so
telling the crowd to fuck off didn't really make any sense,
and I didn't have the impression at the time that that's
what the Volcanics singer was doing. It seemed more like
someone had died, or that something really bad had happened
to the bands. Can anyone shed some light on this? I'd be
interested to know what was going on.
Musically, the fuzz were ok and the volcanics, who I hadn't
seen for ages, were great (to my delight they threw in a
cover of my favourite stooges song Loose, which made
me particularly happy). I can't comment on the M16s because
I nicked off to the hydey to see Klippspringer.
106. KLIPPSPRINGER
@ Hyde Park Hotel, Saturday July 23rd, 2003
If you've read my comments about gig 105, you'd know that I went and saw the Volcanics and The Fuzz at the Whitesands before racing to the Hydey to catch Klippsinger, who were ace. I loved this band's two EPs (In the White was my favourite local release on 2003). I was pretty disappointed when Klippspringer broke up. Anyhow... I wrote about the band's set at the Hydey at this particular gig on perthbands:
Klipprspringer were really good last night. It was their first gig for 6 or so months I think. I love their EP but I haven't seen them live (a whole set anyway) since they supported Screamfeeder about two years ago. I thought they played a good set on Saturday night (especially given they were sick).
From hazy memory the band played lots of unreleased material, most of the songs that ended up on In The White, plus Tea for Two at the end of the set.
107. WHITECHAPEL, LICKING PINK & MORE
@ Rosemount Hotel, Monday July 28th, 2003
My memory of this gig is pretty hazy. All I can really remember is hopelessly attempting to play pool with Josie, Burb and Drew-vool, Melie trying to attach herself to us, and Whitechapel being awesome. At the end of Whitechapel's set the band members all swapped instruments and played some cover song. Also the guitarist had a stuffed toy lobster attached to his guitar for the whole set. Someone was cracking jokes about him being a rock-lobster.
I wrote at the time on perthbands:
Whitechapel were really good last night... instrument swapping and all. Ant's "Speaking in tongues" song was particularly amusing.
108. EL HORIZONTE
@ Curtin Uni Tav, Wednesday July 30th, 2003
This was some random Wednesday arvo gig in the Curtin Uni Tavern. The tav's PA at the time was a complete piece of shit. Eddie (the guitarist from El Horizonte)'s Amp alone was louder than the PA, hence the band sounded pretty shithouse. I can't remember much else except that something hilarious happened at the end of the show as hyperactive frontman Ben Horizonte was jumping away on stage. I think he accidentally smacked Eddie's or Dan Horizonte's Amp clean off stage. You had to be there...
109. THE FUZZ
SLAM Show @ The Paddo, Mt Hawthorne, Thursday July 31st, 2003
Myself and Matt went along to the Paddo to see the Fuzz. We hadn't been to the Paddo before and as a result we got lost finding the place. After eventually arriving we went inside and saw The Fuzz play for about five minutes. The band was then kicked off stage because there weren't many punters in the room and whoever was running the show wanted it over with. The band was noticeably unhappy, however they didn't kick up too much of a fuss. This stage-booting was far less spectacular than when I saw Jed Whitey get kicked off stage in Dunsborough.
August
Duceman had a free ticket to this launch, but he was in Esperance so I scored it. There was an impressive number of people in attendance although there was probably less people watching headliners Mr Sandman than supports Rollerskates and El Horizonte. As I write this a couple of years after the gig I can't remember many specifics about the bands' sets. You can read the Hype-mag review of the gig by clicking on the thumbnail to your left.
111. HARD ONS, LOCAL PRICKS & WHITECHAPEL
@ Globe, Perth, Friday August 8th, 2003
I saw the Hard Ons play at the 2003 Big Day Out and loved them. Hence I was very excited about seeing the band again when they returned for a tour in August. The band didn't disappoint at their Globe show. They played a killer set featuring lots of songs off Very Exciting, plus a few oldies (Suck 'n' Swallow and Girl in the Sweater were in there). After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
The Hard Ons were fantastic last night! I was completely blown away - it was the best set I have seen from any band so far this year. The supports were good but the Hard Ons were in a league of their own. I thought most of the band's songs live left their recordings for dead. Maybe it was because I was standing closer to the front of the stage, but it seemed like the volume went up about 30% when the Hard Ons came on... despite only having one guitar compared to the two that Local Pricks and Whitechapel have.
Other people were impressed as well.
Joey K wrote:
They can't fill a room anymore but they can still rock really hard. Friday night's show was great.
Russ wrote
Loved every fuckin' minute of their show at the Globe!
Superstar Benny Mayhem wrote:
What a great set. Almost all new stuff, but that's OK cause the new album kicks arse.
112. HARD ONS, THE FUZZ
& MORE
@ Lookout, Scarborough, Sunday August 10th, 2003
After being so blown away by the Hard Ons at the Globe I decided to go and see the band again two nights later at the Lookout, where they were playing a SLAM show (which are traditionally about unearthing new local talent!). The Lookout is a big venue that has a capacity of around 1000. As a result the size of the crowd at this gig (probably 100-150) looked paltry.
The Fuzz played first and they were great. Their set included some tunes from the band's first EP (Comic Book, Action, The Bomb, Broken Teeth), a few tunes that ended up on 100 Demons (Chuck, Take the Money), a few forgotten numbers (Delia) and a cover of Money (That's What I Want)!
The Hard Ons were fantastic, not to mention insanely loud. I'd
probably rank their set as this show as loudest I've ever
seen (from any band).
I was wearing earplugs and it was still fucking loud.
The Hard Ons opened up with Fallen Star off This Terrible
Place and then took in a bunch of Very Exciting tunes, plus
Girl in the Sweater, Suck n Swallow, Lost, Raining, Don't Wanna See You Cry, Where Did She Come From?, Made To Love You
and a couple of others. My brother filmed most of the
set on a crappy video camera. You can watch a video
for Made to Love You live at the show if you like. The
sound is pretty average as the levels pumping through the PA
were way more than the camera could handle, however it looks
pretty cool. Blackie is rocking out like a madman
for a fair portion of the video.
Hard Ons - Made To Love You - Watch it here
I think Duceman was leaving for America the day after this gig, so we thought we'd celebrate by going to see some bands at the Rosemount. The gig was loads of fun. The full line up was the Kill Devil Hills, The Arachnids, Hailstones Kill 200 and Rockin' Hendy. It was $4 entry and you got $2 off your first middie.
Hailstones Kill 200 were fantastic. The band featured Dan Salter from Jed Whitey playing drums. I think this was their first or second gig. Andrea the gig co-ordinater booked the band without having seen them. They were scheduled to play a 40 minute set. Instead they came out and played 15 songs in 9 minutes (I kid you not). Total hardcore/screamo/grindcore stuff. The band were serious about their music, but I thought it was really funny. Matt the singer was screaming like a madman and leaping into the audience, and the (numerous) band members were running all over stage and jumping into each other. For one song Dan even came out from behind the kit and had a sing. Hailstones' set came out of left field and was highly entertaining!
Michael Franti and Spearhead were in town while this gig was happening. One of the dudes from Spearhead (Radioactive) came down at the end of the gig and jumped on stage. He proceeded to blow the crowd away with his beatboxing. It was pretty amazing what the dude could do with only his mouth and a microphone. You had to be there.
After the gig Josie wrote on perthbands:
Hailstones were great. but the highlight of the night had to be Radio Active. He put the biggest goddam grin on everyone's faces. There's really only one way to describe it. OH MY FUCKING GOD.
Andrea wrote:
Hailstones Kill 200 threw me when they went on but I really like the fact that that only played for 10 minutes.. just enough to blow everyone away and then get off stage.. not only that but they brought loads of people for that 10 minute set.. very cool.. I cant wait to use them again in the future.. maybe in the middle of an indie lineup or something.
On Saturday August 16th I went to Amps to see the Little Birdy Relapse 7" launch, supported by The Fergusons, Steve Parkin
and End of Fashion.
Unfortunately when I
arrived I could hear
the Fergusons playing but the gig had sold out and I wasn't
allowed to enter. As a result
I headed off to the 24 hour deli in Burswood.
Thanks to an Amplifier sell-out I ended up at the big 24
hour deli in Burswood at around 11pm on Saturday night. To
my surprise I found an angry looking Glen Jackovich, as well
as Peter Sumich and a couple of grey haired West Coast
officials inside the deli.
As a little kid Suma was my hero. When I was six I sent him
a letter telling him how great he was and
he wrote me one
back, and sent me a signed photo!
However, my childhood admiration of Suma was shattered in
the deli on Saturday night. Suma decided to get all angry at
one of the old West Coast officials for ordering food... and
then, five minutes later, he went full circle... by trying
to steal MY food!!! Suma rudely jumped the queue and tried to
get his filthy hands on the chips that had just been cooked
for me. Luckily the girl serving us was a bit of an angsty
lass herself and rebelled against Suma's celebrity status
and queue jumping... and hence I got my chips and Suma had
to wait his turn.
114. EL HORIZONTE, LOCAL PRICKS & TIMES UP
'Signatures at the Crossroads' CD Launch @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday August 22, 2003
On the same night as this gig myself and the Archfiend were editing the Lash-Panda video. At some stage we stopped and wandered down to the Amplifier. We caught a bit of Times Up and Local Pricks (neither of whom I remember) plus El Horizonte, who were launching their long awaited debut album Signatures at the Crossroads. I seem to remember that the EH boys had enticed some rather jovial Geraldton crew down for the launch. I can't remember much about EH's set except that they played quite a few non-album songs (like the Young & the Strange and Renaissance Man). A couple of weeks after the gig I wrote some comments about the album on perthbands. Eddie Horizonte later berated me for my comparisons between the EH album and Kyuss.
El Horizonte's album is good and it gets better with every listen. My favourite is At the Circus. It would've been nice for Renaissance Man to make this record, but I presume it will be on the next one... Signatures at the Crossroads is a big step up production wise from the Horizon cd... however when I listened to SATC through and then put on Kyuss' old ... And the circus leaves town album I noticed a significant difference in the power / volume / clarity of the records - Kyuss had a lot more punch. Of course, there is also a huge difference in how much $$$ was spent on each record... Signatures at the crossroads is good, but it would be really interesting to see what EH could produce in a top-notch studio.
September
Subtruck were amazing at
this show. They opened up with a killer version of
Moment and followed it
up with a ripper set of tunes. I remember having an absolute ball during their set. I missed most of the
other bands
on the bill because I was preoccupied talking to
kilted up Josafiend in the
courtyard.
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
That Metal show was wicked. I only meant to duck down for an hour (as I was overloaded with Uni exam revision) but ended up staying for four. Prolly my fav of the weekend.
Archfiend wrote:
I had an awesome night... I think this will be my fave WAMI gig: I say it gets the archfiend's WAMO: West Australian Music Orgasm.
116. JED WHITEY, BOB EVANS, EL HORIZONTE, CHRIS FULLER (IKEY MO), SHOWBAG,
HEADSHOT, END OF FASHION & MORE
@ WAMI Saturday Spectacular, Rosemount Hotel, Saturday September
6th, 2003
This was a massive three stage gig at the Rosemount. My three highlights of the evening were:
i) Jed Whitey's very short set. Some people were sitting down in front of stage while the band was playing. One of persons was writing in her diary. Halfway through the set Luke Mk.1 from JW went over to the seated peeps and stole the diary and then started reading it out on stage. "Dear Diary, today I went to see Jed Whitey..." Luke also stole a full jug of beer from the seated persons, and went and stood on top of them so that they had to stand up. It was pretty hilarious (you had to be there). I got a free This Machine Kills Hippies 7" as well.
ii) El Horizonte, who played a ripper set... although I still reckon that their gig at the Newport a few months earlier was better.
iii) The pinnacle of the night for me was Chris Fuller (Anodyne 500 / Ikey Mo) playing solo in the beer garden. He played a song at this gig called On Top of the World that I thought was the best thing ever! Fuller's rendition of the song at this gig I rate as my all time favourite performance by a local musician. I was sitting down on the ground in front of stage, a little tipsy, completely beaming as he played it. It was fantastic. When I later heard an (unreleased) studio recording of On Top of the World I was disappointed by it, because live and acoustic the song had a lot more punch. The recording isn't bad... just not as good.
At the time I wrote on perthbands:
Aside from JW and El Hell's brilliant sets I also thought Chris Fuller was really really good outside and that Showbag were interesting (I hadn't seen them before).
117. THE CASANOVAS & JED WHITEY
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday September 7th, 2003
The press release for this gig read:
"Rock and roll hoochie koo, truck on out and spread the
news" – Rick Derringer, 1974
"War now calls, heed to the battle, hear our swords clanging
in the wind" – Immortal, 2002
These, ladies and gentlemen, are profoundly moronic words.
Words that define the Jed Whitey raison detre. For
when Jed Whitey hears the calls of war, they truck on out
their rock and roll hoochie koo and kill people with swords.
Heeding the call to battle, Jed Whitey truck on out through
WA in September with Melbourne’s The Casanovas. Brandishing
copies of their new vinyl EP in one hand and a broadsword in
the other, Jed Whitey promise a blood spilling, church
burning, traveling rock and roll disaster area.
Says bassist Louis Dunstan, "We are warriors of the cold
steel, and we are destined to fly the skies in hammer
chariots. Where did I put my explosives?"
As Immortal would say, you will hear the mighty battleblasts.
As Rick Derringer would say, your ears will be ringin' like
a fire alarm."
At about 9pm I left the WAMI show at the Rosemount and headed over to the Amps to see Jed Whitey play a long set, plus the Casanovas. The place was pretty much packed out. Jed Whitey were really, really good. The Casanovas were ok but I started to feel pretty sick during their set because, unbeknowst to me at the time, I was developing a bad fever that ended up knocking me out for the next couple of weeks. I ended up with a massive head ache by the end of this gig, which was made worse by Matthew driving around like a hoon at the Vic Park shopping centre after the show.
After the gig Rory wrote on perthbands:
Possibly it's a result of my over extended hiatus from gig attendance, but I thought last night at Amps was a bit special. How I miss JW. And the Casanovas were thoroughly impressive.
118. THE CASANOVAS & JED WHITEY
@ Newport Hotel, Fremantle, Sunday September 8th, 2003
I felt completely shit before this gig, because I had a fever. I spent most of the day in bed. However, being a JW-addict, I still ventured down to the Newport in Freo to see them. Thankfully I didn't have to drive, Josafiend did that.
El Horizonte were first on the bill. We expected them to be on about 8pm, but instead they must have played really early, because by the time we arrived (about 7.45) Jed Whitey were already half way through their set. The band were pretty good, and a few of the boys from EH were standing drunkenly at the front of stage pumping their fists in the air. The Casanovas then played and, despite their unoriginal tunes, they managed to win most of the crowd over. At the start of their set they dragged everyone in the venue forward, eliminating the semi-circle of death at the front of stage.
Josie wrote about the gig on perthbands:
I rang the newport today to find out what time jed whitey are playing and the woman said "well, he's supporting the casanovas, so he should be on stage around 7:30". fool.
Archfiend wrote:
Casanovas were way more fun at the Newport, and I don't think that was entirely to do with how fucked I felt. They sounded cool & wore white shoes.
Apparently I also went into the toilets at this gig and was attacked!
Watch out for the killer toilet in the Gents at the Newport, I was attacked last Sunday. It had some kind of weird leak and spat out all this water from the side of it unexpectedly... soaking the bottom of my jeans in the process. Not really good look when you're coming out of the toilet. Thankfully I was too sick to really know what was going on and get too self-conscious.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
119. JED WHITEY
Wami Showcase @ Forest Place, Perth CBD, 8am, Monday September 9th, 2003
As part of the WAMI festival, a band played a set at 8am at Forest Place in the Perth CBD each day during WAMI week. First up were Jed Whitey. My fever had kicked into overdrive before this gig and I felt like complete shit, but I still went along.
The gig was absolutely hilarious. To read about what happened, check out the perthbands quotes below.
Scott (Mobius Trip) wrote:
Well I've just come from a once in a life time experience. Jed Whitey, 8 in the am, sipping lattes on stage in the middle of forest chase. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a while...They introduced themselves as little birdy - which was funny to only the few people there who knew who JW were. They were very polite, welcoming each train load of people with a hearty good morning followed by screaming "pull my finger" into the mic. But it was worth getting up that early just to see the looks on the faces of the work going public confronted by the force that is Jed Whitey first thing on Monday morning. A mum asked if she could get a photo of her 6 year old son with the band after the gig. JW, fun for all ages!
Archfiend wrote:
I liked the bit where the old wine-o stumbled past and threw his empty in the fountain...and all the people leaning over the balcony & peering down (stupefied) at the stage. Twas magnificent & surreal.
Luke Mk.1 from Jed Whitey wrote:
6-year-old to Louis: "You're just like my step-dad"
Louis: .... (speechless for the first time in his whole
life)
During the 15 minutes we played, the City of Perth received
6 noise complaints and a phonecall wanting to book us for a
gig. What a trip. Thanks to all who made it along
yesterday morning - that was truly above and beyond the call
of duty.
120. FOURSTROKE, THE VOLCANICS & M16s
WAMI Rock Showcase @ Amplifier Bar, Friday September 12th, 2003
I was still fucked at this gig with a bad fever I developed a week earlier. However, I still had an enjoyable time. I vaguely remember the Volcanics and Fourstroke being pretty good.
Simon from Fourstroke wrote on perthbands after the gig:
Cheers to everyone who came along to the shows, especially at Amplifier. That was one huge night of rock and roll! Our set featured some equipment problems, but aside from that it was a fantastic gig. All the bands played great and the crowd was awesome... that show alone would surely put the complaints of any Perth music critic to bed.
I was still very sick at this gig with a fever I'd been suffering from for the past week. I spent a lot of the night sitting up the back of the Globe trying not to move much. Accompanying each band at this show were whacky visuals projected onto the giant screen at the back of the stage.
Snowman were on first and were pretty cool. I only caught the end of their last couple of songs (they finished with Zombies on the Airwaves of Paris). Fourstoke then played. I wrote about Fourstoke's set at the time on perthbands.
Thanks for throwing in Chicks Dig Cars second last at the globe... after you didn't play it on Friday and it hadn't popped up early in Saturday's set I thought the chances of hearing it were grim, but I was pleasantly surprised. The visuals during Chicks Dig Cars at the Globe were quite strange... a whole lot of chicken roasting... chicks dig chicken?
Halogen, the Tucker Bs and Moriaty I don't remember much about. I remember Jebediah's set - it sucked. Definitely the WORST JEBEDIAH SET that I've ever seen. I hated it. The band played a bunch of boring new songs that I disliked (e.g., Worlds Away) and their old songs didn't have the punch that they normally do. There was still a large crowd watching the band though, and a large moshpit. It was the last time I'd see such a large and enthusiastic pit at a Jebs show.
Well, this only half classifies as a "gig" because it was actually a stand up comedy night. Suresh and the Naked Chicks, however, are a musical comedy outfit, and a damn good one. Their performance this particular evening was very entertaining, featuring humorous but tuneful songs such Jesus Was A Cowboy, Gosnells Jingle, She's A Female Girl and I wanna take drugs 'til I turn into Syd Barrett. The band features just acoustic guitar, piano and vocals. I (seriously) would love to hear this band's songs rocked up, they'd sound great. I said this once to Suresh or one of the band members and they thought I was taking the piss, but I was dead serious.
This gig was great. Fatoles Lounge would be playing a punk-esque tune, and then halfway through they'd throw in some metal-esque distortion. It was kinda weird but cool. They had a lot of people watching 'em too (particularly girls, quite a rarity at punk shows). Local Pricks were excellent at this gig. The Hydey was packed during the band's set... myself and Trippo ended up standing up on the couches to the side of stage so that we could see. But the highlight of the night was Sex at Gunpoint. During the set one of the band members jumped over the bar and started drinking from the taps! Matt from Hailstones Kill 200, dressed in a goodies t-shirt and these short football-like shorts, also got on stage and sang a song with the band. The set concluded with a ripper version of a tune that went, "We've got a message for the U.S.A... FUCK YOU!" or something like that. It was great!
After the gig Rory wrote on perthbands:
Sex At Gun Point - ex Ken Oath - those chaps still have some of the best stage moves in Perth.
Dickhead wrote:
Was a great night indeed... Sex at Gunpoint really took things far, what with inviting a drunken aboriginal woman to "sing a love song"
And I wrote:
This gig was, unexpectedly, one of my favourites of the year. I fucking missed the Magoos again - just like the Curtin Uni NCB heats - because the playing order changed. What I saw of Fatoles was good. Local Pricks were great, they played "Fuck You Bitch." The highlight of my night was losing my Sex At Gunpoint virginity, they were highly entertaining, especially when they got overrun by the aboriginal lady who was trying to sing the love song. A top gig.
October
Back in 2003, I was a dickhead and filled out a silly questionnaire on perthbands in which, amongst other things, I wrote that my aim in life was to be the first person to upload naked pictures of 10 Speed Racer's lead singer Scott Tomlinson onto the internet. There is some history as to why I did this.
Back in mid 2001 Scott had a livejournal in which he wrote:
What's the big deal about the local band Jed Whitey? They're crap! They sound like Black Flag molested by something else crap. I don't understand, They're crap!
This started a humorous war of words between the bands. At some stage I became a rabbid JW fan, so it was naturally the done thing to dislike 10 Speed Racer. Then Trippo started hanging around with a bunch of 10 Speed Racer fans/girlfriends and talking about the band lots. Hence when filling out the stupid profile I mentioned Scott a couple of times without thinking too much about it. His response was:
Mongoloid_Dave, There's nothing I love more than a country bumpkin all caught up in the big city lights. I loved the photo on your "crappy" site by the way. Oh...the irony. In fact...I loved your picture so much that I submitted it to uglypeople.com. They loved it! To quote the administrator -> "Cheers man, this ugly couple will be great for our new ugly gay couple section. Someone should tell that little dude that he's got a furry caterpillar climbing across his brow". Gold! I'm sorry to have to let you down buddy, but I just don't find you attractive. p.s. also being obsessed with satan is so passe, but then again - you are a country bumpkin and probably still bugging mum for an undercut...Do you guys kneel down to Jed Whitey cds every night? 'cause man I've never come across a couple of guys who are trying so hard to come across with all their attitude and wit. At least they're actually funny (sometimes).
This caused a shitfight on perthbands. Along the way, I thought I should get along to a 10 Speed Racer gig. Scott agreed.
Dave, I think you should definitely come to the gig, so we can all laugh at you. Also...I can't understand how you can diss indie bands and then rate Turnstyle as your second favourite Perth band. I mean...I love/loved Turnstyle, but aren't they the epitome of an "indie" band? Dave, you must understand - just because you like rock 'n roll, doesn't make you rock 'n roll, so go and change your bonds top and put your old man trousers through the wash.
The shitfight eventually settled down when I realised that I was being a dickhead and Scott was kinda right in saying I was just jumping on the JW bandwagon. I ended up apologising to Scott!
I ended up going to the 10 Speed Racer show and they were pretty good. I am a bit of an indie pop kid at heart, and the band makes music that is right up my ally. They all seem like pretty good dudes too. Oddly enough I'd love to get hold of the 10 Speed Racer demo from 2003. If anyone has a copy that they'd be prepared to burn for me please send me an email.
125. THE FERGUSONS
Red Jezebel's 'Wide
Open Spaces' CD Launch @ Friday October 3rd, 2003
and
126. SUBTRUCK
Volume Dealers Ball @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday October 3rd, 2003
I went along to see The Fergusons support Red Jezebel, who were launching their single Wide Open Spaces. The vibe in the Rosemount during the Fergies set was a bit off, partly because there weren't many people in the room. There was a very large semi-circle of death in front of the stage. As I write this a couple of years after the event I can't recall much about the Fergies set, but apparently at the time I thought the band had a bad night. I would've liked to have stayed for Red Jez, but I ended up going over to the Amps where Subtruck were playing an hour long set. Like the Rosemount, the Amplifier was also sparsely populated. The 'Truck played an excellent set that included a few new tunes. This was the first show that turned Josie into a Subtruck fan. After it she wrote on perthbands:
I've seen Subtruck a few times before, but for some reason they just didn't sit all that well with me until last night. From now on I'll be paying much more attention.
I am a massive Ratcat fan, so when I found out that Simon Day was supporting Little Birdy I decided to go along. In an odd twist of fate Josafiend pulled up into the Entertainment Centre car park about 10 seconds after I did. We ended up going to the show together and then talking afterwards to about 4am. I had to get up to play a colts cricket game at 8am the next day. It was painful.
As for the show... Simon Day was brilliant. He played all new songs except for three Ratcat tunes (That Ain't Bad, Don't Go Now and Baby, Baby). For That Ain't Bad Simon was joined onstage by Little Birdy (minus Katy Steele). It was pretty rad.
Little Birdy were pretty terrible. The volume in the Globe was too loud, and it made Katy's voice sound all screechy and horrible. The place was also completely packed (close to a sell out I'd say) and pretty uncomfortable. As a result I ended up walking out after four Little Birdy songs.
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
There sure was a lot of people there. Simon Day looked scary, but he was good. Does Katy Steele always sound that whiney?
Archfiend wrote:
I like little birdy. I find Katie's voice piercing and haunting. I'm going to get that CD. However I wasn't blown away by the launch. Ive seen vegetables in the supermarket who enjoy better lighting (especially Simon Day’s) and either I missed something or there was not much of a: "HOORAY WE'RE LAUNCHING A CD AT LAST -- ISNT THIS FANTASTIC!!??" vibe flying around. I got the impression it was another ordinary gig – just with heaps of people texting each other and playing snake on their phones. Its sad cos I wanted it to be good, but perhaps the slickness, professionalism, charisma and power of the Volume Dealers Ball the night before had set my standards way too high. Or maybe its just that I cant handle being in a room flooded with that much "cool".
Adam James wrote:
I'm glad someone else thinks that the lighting was umm, how can i put this.... FUCKING PATHETIC! you'd think with pretty 'big' local bands like this that the show would be hella professional. i was really disappointed by the staging/energy etc. But simon day playing 'that ain't bad' with the little birdy crew made it all worth while.
128. THE FERGUSONS
& EL HORIZONTE (All Ages)
Snap! Crackle! Rock! @ The Vault, Melville, Friday 10 October 2003
This all ages gig at Melville was pretty cool.
I had a camera from Uni for the weekend and at the last
minute I decided to go along and do some filming. The
spontaneity of my decision to attend the gig caused me a few
headaches...
There were no door sales for this show. Instead you had to go to Harmony Music and pre-purchase tickets. Obviously I couldn't do this at 8pm on a Friday night. So, I enthusiastically assumed that I would somehow manage to get away with paying at the door. I therefore got an unpleasant surprise when I went to enter the venue and there was a pretty sign saying, "Who sold out? Yeah, we sold out!" As a result I ended up having to scalp a ticket off some kid outside the venue. From memory the pre-sale tickets cost about $8, but I had to pay the kid $14 or $15. Once safely inside the venue I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. There was a big screen behind the band, and the PA sounded good.
El Horizonte were about halfway through their set when I entered. I thought El Horizonte were pretty good on the night. After their set finished I went outside and had a chat to the Dan the EH bass player, and I met Eddie the guitarist. They thought that their set had stunk! Apparently there had been bum notes galore, but I hadn't noticed. Meeting Eddie I found amusing, because the first thing he did was berate me for comparing El Horizonte's album to Kyuss' Welcome to Sky Valley on perthbands. Once this was out of the way he was pretty cool. I liked El Horizonte a lot as a band, and they all seemed like cool people too. I was sad to see them split up in 2005.
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
"I was pleasantly surprised by the vault as an all ages venue. The room was a good size and well laid out, the sound was good, and the light show and big tv screen were impressive. What I got to see of El Horizonte was good, and The Fergusons more than redeemed themselves for their crap set at red jezebel's single launch."
This was a killer show. The Mess Hall were good, but it was You Am I's night. It was an emotional show for the band, as it was their last at the Raffles Hotel before it got demolished. Apparently the crowd at this gig was the most receptive on You Am I's entire Cream & The Crock tour. The band fed off the crowd's energy on the night, playing a fantastic set that was littered with classics from across their back catalogue. The gig got reviewed by Grok. You can read the review by clicking on the thumbnail to the left. I think the review is a pretty inaccurate account of the evening.
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
The Mess Hall won me over and You Am I were absolutely fantastic, I didn't want them to stop. The only bad thing about the YAI set was that at the end of each song some dickhead standing behind me kept yelling 'Fuck Jebediah... Mass Appeal Benefit Gig'.
Russ wrote:
"God fucking damn that was an amazing gig at the Raffles. I loved every fucking second of it."
Reverie Rainie wrote:
"fuck yeh they were awesome - but they always are! you could feel the floor vibrate and my ears are still ringing but You Am I are definitely worth the temporary deafness (my fault really, was standing too close to the speakers) ...wish i had tickets for tonite's gig as well.... how amazing were The Mess Hall - they never disappoint those boys, in all, a good time was had by all!! "
You Am I (the perthbands person, not the band) wrote:
"Last night proved once again that You Am I are the greatest rock and roll band in the fucking world. I fear for your soul if you disagree. Every sweat soaked minute of last night was pure gold. PS. Russ, I think I spotted you a couple of people to the left of me, front row, in front of Davey. I noticed you because you were the only person other than myself who seemed to know the words to "Open All Night" and a couple of other lesser known tracks. Loved the air drumming mate."
This show was pretty fun. Before it a bunch of us went to the Rosemount 10 Pin Bowling Alley and had a couple of games. As for the gig, Headshot were pretty impressive this particular evening. HFA I don't remember much about, but I seem to remember them getting a good reception (there were a lot of punters at this gig). I think Heavy Weight Champ then played, but their set got slashed from 45 minutes to about 15 (because the night got off to a late start, and none of the other bands' cut their set times). HWC weren't happy.
The photos you can see were taken by Brett Ladhams and were originally posted on perthbands. That's Archfiend in the skull t-shirt (she made it herself). She also made the skeleton t-shirt that Ben Headshot is wearing in the photo of him playing guitar. The setlist belongs to Headshot (I picked it up on the night).
After the gig Archfiend wrote on perthbands:
"What an awesome night... its so cool when all the bands on
the bill deliver the goods (to say the least) & that balance
between diverse and complimentary sounds is on the money.. I
reckon it was totally sweeeeeeet. Good vibes in the room
too! Thankyou!
[Best version of Headshot's Rooms within Rooms EVER!
Brett Ladhams wrote:
"Sleeper X and Headshot were the highlights for me for the night- the kilted Kenny for 'RWR' was gold- yes Arch 'best version ever'. Antistatic were a lot better than last time I saw them. HWC didn't play for as long as they should've, or either it didn't seem long due to my pissolaness. Cheers everyone that came down, drank beer, jumped around and bought a shirt. \m/ \m/ \m/
JFK wrote:
"I thought HFA were, overall, the best band on the night (as it should have been) and, as has been said, there was a very un-angry, un-metal, 'nice' vibe in the place that helped carry most of the evening. Dammit people, more blood and knashing teeth is needed! "
131. SCREAMFEEDER
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday October 18th, 2003
Screamfeeder were excellent at this show at the Amplifier. The band played a killer set that was dominated by songs from the brilliant Take You Apart album. Highlights included And Tigers They Roam and Bunny, which frontman Tim Steward said the band really liked and wanted to release as a single (funnily enough they later did!). Tim also mentioned that the previous night Screamfeeder had played at Bar 120 in Hillarys, to a bunch of "surfies and stoned suburban idiots" and that the band was much happier playing at the Amplifier, because they felt the inner city was where they belonged. Tim is a natural star onstage, jumping around enthusiastically on guitar... it is quite awesome to watch.
I had a lot of fun watching Screamfeeder at this show. I know their set was brilliant because before they played I was feeling pretty shitty. However once Screamfeeder took to the stage they made those feeling disappear, and as the set progressed I became happier and happier. By the time the band walked off stage at the end of their set I was beaming and applauding enthusiastically . I really wanted the band to come back and keep playing.
November
132. IMPRINT, BORDELLO, GIGANTIC & PUREPHASE
Triple Crowd @ Murdoch Uni, Friday November 11th, 2003
Triple Crown = the big end of semester bash at Murdoch Uni. I got a huge surprise when I showed up and discovered how MASSIVE this show is. There were over 3000 people there! Triple Crown completely owns any social event at Curtin Uni.
A heap of bands played on the night. Most of them were pretty shit. Bordello were awful. Their new "groove laden funk songs" were cringeworthy. Thankfully they played Babe-a-Rolla at the end of the set. Imprint were also pretty average, but they played a cool cover of Faith No More's The Gentle Art of Making Enemies.
The main other thing that I remember about Triple Crown is that Trippo and I met Deranged Flutterby from perthbands, who at the time was involved in a giant internerd war match with Zack Drederick. On the internet Deranged Flutterby was a bit of a 'tard, but in person she was actually pretty cool.
133. HEADSHOT
@ The Carlton, Friday November 21st, 2003
and
134. THE TREMORS
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Friday November 21st, 2003
Myself, Josafiend, Trippo and someone else (Karri?) headed off to see Thumb, Headshot and El Horizonte at the Carlton this particular Friday. There was an odd vibe in the venue this particular night... we all felt a bit uncomfortable and uneasy for some reason. Archfiend and I made an escape by going over to the Amplifier to see The Tremors. This band featured Geoff Corbett from Six Ft Hick on vocals. One of the girls from Gazoonga Attack was also in the band, plus the new drummer from the Mess Hall. Anyhow, earlier in the night The Tremors had played a gig with Powderfinger at Metro City. It was sold out. The Tremors would have been playing to a couple of thousand people. Then they had to front up at the Amplifier, where I probably could have counted the number of people in the room using my hands and feet. Despite the lack of punters The Tremors played an ok set... nothing too special, but not too bad.
This was an ok-but-nothing-special midweek gig. Hailstones Kill 200 and Sex at Gunpoint both played commendable but not particularly memorable sets. One of the other bands (I think it was Love You Dead) had a female singer and weren't too bad.
December
136. MCLUSKY & TUCKER Bs
@ Amplifier Bar, Saturday December
20th, 2003
This ranks as one of my all-time favourite shows - and it almost didn't happen! Ex-Custard frontman Dave McCormack was playing the same night in Kings Park as part of some festival, and I really wanted to see him. However, he was also playing the next night in Freo... so I decided to go and see Mclusky on Saturday, and McCormack on Sunday.
I owe Heath Bradby some thanks for my love of Mclusky. I hadn't heard of the band until I got a Naked Ape email one day saying that the Welsh trio were touring. The email read:
"Mclusky are a band of three. You could call them a punk band but they'd just shrug and mutter something about 'the distortion of punks original ideals etc.', so it's probably not worth the effort. You could call them a rock band but the spandex count is minimal and all of them own their own cocks. Following on from the marvellously titled debut album My Pain And Sadness Is More Sad And Painful Than Yours & the much revered Mclusky Do Dallas long player of 2002, which featured the singles Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues, To Hell With Good Intentions & Alan Is A Cowboy Killer, this cranking Welsh three piece is at last coming to Australia, playing national dates in December, including the wonderful Meredith Music Festival."
I was intrigued by the three Mclusky song titles mentioned in the email so I went and downloaded the tracks. I was completely blown away when I heard Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues. It was awesome. Shortly afterwards I went CD shopping and picked up the band's Undress for Success tour EP. I thought the EP was pretty good, so I then purchased the Mclusky Do Dallas album. I loved the album so much that I bought a ticket to the band's Amplifier show, which cost $35. A week after the gig I purchased Mclusky's first album, meaning that in the course of a month I spent around $100 of my poor student budget on the band. I guess this shows that downloading the odd mp3 for free can sometimes be of benefit to the music industry.
As for the show...the Amplifier was nicely populated with punters during Mclusky's set. There was enough people in the room for there to be a good vibe and no semi-circle of death, but there wasn't so many that the place was uncomfortable. Myself and Archfiend got a prime position towards the front of stage. Mclusky opened with Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues, which got a bunch of enthusiastic fans jumping up and down. From there on the band ripped through a killer set that was broken up by a lot of hilarious banter with the crowd.
The highlight tunes of the set for myself and the Archfiend were Alan is a Cowboy Killer, whiteliberalonwhiteliberalaction and See them, smell them, sign them. The latter track featured Jon Chapple playing second guitar. At the start of the song he was strumming the bits of the strings on the headstock of the guitar, but not in a tune-less way!
Mclusky's set on the evening culminated in a ripper version of Chases in which Falco went wild, ripping one of his shoes off and playing his guitar with it (actually 'getting a fuckload of feedback' would be more accurate than 'playing').
After the gig I wrote on perthbands
Mclusky were fucking awesome. It was unfortunate there was a piss poor call for a second encore, I wanted more! Well worth the $35. Thanks for bringing them Heath.
If anyone is interested, the full set that mclusky played was...
1. Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues
2. What We've Learned
3. Collagen Rock
4. White Liberalon White Liberal Action
5. KKKitchens What Were You Thinking?
6. Falco VS The Young Canoeist
7. See Them, Smell Them, Sign Them
8. You Should Be Ashamed, Seamus
9. To Hell With Good Intentions
10. Undress For Success
11. Alan Is A Cowboy Killer
12. 1956 And All That
13. The London Whine Company
14. Slay
15. Who You Know
------------
16. Chases
Thanks to Russ for the setlist.
137. DAVE MCCORMACK / ANDREW LANCASTER & BURGERS OF
BEEF
@ Swan Basement, Fremantle, Sunday December 21st, 2003
This acoustic show was a lot of fun. It was a laid back summer Sunday afternoon, and most people (including myself and Archfiend) sat down in front of stage and watched the bands. It was lovely.
Burgers of Beef were up first, in acoustic mode. In one of the songs frontman Chad inserted the, "I am your neighbour, lend me some sugar!" line from Outkast's HeyYa! song. Archfiend and I didn't know the Outkast song at the time, so we thought Chad had come up with the line and was extremely spontaneous and witty! The Burgers were cool, I remember enjoying their set a lot.
I was very excited about seeing Dave McCormack, especially
after
almost seeing him in 2001 and
giving up seeing him
the night before. Archfiend wanted to hear The New
Matthew, so when Dave and his buddy Andrew Lancaster ventured onto stage and proclaimed,
"We're going to start as we always do, with The New
Matthew,"
she nearly wet her pants. Dave had a setlist (that you
can see by clicking on the thumbnail above) however he
didn't stick to it. Instead he took requests from the
crowd for most of the set. I remember Alone, Apartment, Caboolture Speed Lab, I'm Bored, Yer Woman, I'm Gonna
Execute Your Ex Boyfriend and If you ever leave me I will hunt
you down and kill you
all getting an airing, as well as a heap of other tunes.
Dave looked a bit tired at this gig (apparently he had a
rather monstrous night before) but he still managed to put
on a great performance. At one point he got off stage
mid-way through a song and walked into the gents, guitar in
hand, strumming away, which surprised the patrons at the
urinal!
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
Mr McCormack and Mr Landcaster were excellent. I especially liked the "I'm going to kill your ex-boyfriend because I'm so nice" and "If you ever leave me I will hunt you down and kill you" tunes. Burgers of Beef were also a pleasant unexpected surprise. This weekend (McCormack+Mclusky) has totally re-sparked my passion for live music after seeing a few dud shows and not going out a lot recently.
Archfiend wrote:
That was my first taste of the Burgers (haha lame joke,
sorry). I like the flat tyre song.
I was ecstatic with The New Matthew being played first,
having hummed that all afternoon! Such a perfect laid-back
Sunday set!
138. FOURTH FLOOR COLLAPSE, SIN CITY, HEAD
FILLED ATTRACTION, ROLLERSKATES, THE AVENUES
Hacienda V2 @
Metro City, Perth, December 26th, 2003
This gig was very exciting for myself and a few other people,
because we made
a fictional video about it. The gig featured a
heap of perth bands playing at the huge venue Metro City,
which is traditionally home to big international touring
bands. Unfortunately the gig was a bit of a flop in
terms of heads through the door. There were still
plenty of people at the gig - I'd say a few hundred - but
given that Metros holds 2000+, the crowd looked paltry.
I had an excellent time though.
The first band I saw was The Avenues. I was very excited about seeing this band because Cain the bass player used to be in Cartman, whom I loved. I liked Cain's Cartman songs (e.g. Marriage) lots. Unfortunately I was highly disappointed by what I saw of the Avenues set... it was bland and boring. The other bands on the bill all played pretty good sets... I can't remember many specifics, but memory says, "They were good."
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
Hacienda was entertaining and the view from the VIP area was awesome. Thanks Magz and co for putting in so much effort organising the event.
139. MAGIC DIRT
& SPIDERBAIT
NYE @ Gloucester Park, Perth, December 31st, 2003
and
140. JED WHITEY & CAPITAL CITY
'Proudly Local NYE' @ Hyde Park Hotel, December 31st, 2003
After my 2001 and 2002 New Years Eve disasters at the Falls Festival in Lorne, it was nice to have a good NYE in 2003! There were a number of good gigs happening on the night. The Globe/Amplifier had...The Stems, The Panics, Little Birdy, End of fashion, Fourth floor collapse, Bob Evans, El Horizonte, The Fuzz, the Honeyriders, Team Jedi and One Horse Town, all for $26! The Hydey had a bunch of local bands including Jed Whitey (returning from the east coast for their only WA show) and Gloucester Park had Magic Dirt, Jebediah and Spiderbait. I ended up gig-hopping on the night. First off myself and some friends went to see Magic Dirt. The set was ok but only featured Tough Love songs (mostly the bad ones) plus Dirty Jeans and Pace It. We then raced over to the Hydey to watch Jed Whitey. When we arrived Capital City were just finishing up their set. Sam, Chris and Russ were grand.
Jed Whitey's set was undoubtedly the highlight of the night. The band pulled out a bunch of old songs that hadn't been played live for years, as you can see by clicking on their setlist (see above). The 'intro' featured a piss-take of Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet. I then got the shock of my life when the band ripped into I'm Retarded from Superfly Bigmuff. Ben Mayhem was jumping around going, "Three years, three fucking years" (a reference to how long it had been since the band had played the song). Also included in the set was P.Q., La Tacha, Uncontrollable Urge and a cool song that I hadn't heard before called Got That Thing. This show was the band's last with Dan Salter drumming.
Trippo, Jo and and I then made a mad dash back to Gloucester Park, where we caught about 45 minutes of Spiderbait. The set was pretty good, and included Footy, Old Man Sam, Hot Water and Milk, Sam Gribbles, Buy Me A Pony (rocked up, not with Janet on drums), Outta My Head, Yeah oh Yeah and Calypso, amongst other tunes. Kram's banter with the crowd was also quite entertaining and original, unlike the annoying, "Let me hear you say yeah, yeah, yeah" that it would degenerate into post-Black Betty.
After the gig I wrote on perthbands:
This new years was my first good one in ages. I caught Magic Dirt, Capital City, Jed Whitey and Spiderbait. All the bands were great. The crowd at the hydey was mostly nice and friendly. The dickheads with glowing lightsabres at Gloucester park were not. A little 10 year old midget tried to push Trippo around, and for the first time ever Trippo dwarfed his opponent!