Gig Lists - 1998 to 2001

Last updated January 2008

1998 \ 1999 \ 2000
2001-> Feb \ Mar \ Apr \ May \ Jun \ Jul \ Aug \ Sep \ Oct \ Dec

1998

1. RED JEZEBEL, JASPER TANK(SHIFTER) & ZAYUS (All Ages)
1998 Regional WAMI Tour @ Cannery Arts Centre, Esperance, Friday 24th July, 1998

The first gig of any note that I remember attending was this all ages regional WAMI showcase at the old Cannery in Esperance. I turned up really early while Red Jezebel were sound checking. I distinctly remember them playing a blistering instrumental version of their song C is for Cookie. The song really grabbed my attention - it was fast, really loud and damn catchy. It was a very cool introduction to live rock music.

2. JASPER TANK, OCEANIA & ZAYUS (All Ages)
@ Soundshell, Esperance, late 1998

This gig happened late in 1998 on a Friday night at the Soundshell in Esperance. My main memory of it is that one of my ears was blocked with wax. I had to constantly tug on my ear while the bands were playing so that I could hear them.

I arrived during Zayus's set. This band featured Lee Davidson (Weed) and Marcus Bootsma (Boots), who would later go on to be in Perth metal bands Coloured and Head Filled Attraction. Zayus's original material had a grungy sound. They also played a cover of Paranoid by Black Sabbath. Also on the bill were Jasper Tank, who featured Corey Davidson (also of Head Filled Attraction fame). During one of the band's songs Duceman made a mad dash down to the front of the stage to mosh like a madman.

1999

During 1999 and 2000 the students at my High School were sometimes treated to lunchtime entertainment in the form of a band from a drug rehabilitation centre on the outskirts of Esperance. The band had a left handed drummer who played crazy 1980s electronic drum pads instead of a real kit.

My High School was also treated to a rather awesome lunchtime gig by the...

3. THREE ORANGE WHIPS (All Ages)
1999 Regional WAMI tour @ Esperance Senior High School Gym, mid 1998

This gig was great! Perth rock band the Three Orange Whips managed scare the shit out of a lot of Esperance Senior High School's students and staff when they played a lunchtime gig in the gym as part of a 1999 Regional WAMI tour. The Whips played a five song set, which consisted of Wasteland, O Wilde, Can You See It, Where Eagles Dare and Tina Rock Arena. After the gig the band were referred to by teachers not as the "Three Orange Whips" but rather "that horrible band that swore in the gym." I skipped class to follow the band around the school and film them. I later edited up a video and sent it to the band. Besty, the Whips drummer, wrote back. You can read his humorous letter by clicking here. As well as playing the gig the band also had a question and answer session with the school's music class. At the Q&A session they signed a CD for me.

The video below contains a selection of footage from the gig.

2000

4. BIG DAY OUT 2000 (All Ages)
@ Bassendean Oval, Sunday February 6th, 2000

This was my first Perth gig and festival. It was about 40 degrees and I didn't take a hat or any water, and I managed to watch lots of mostly crap bands instead of good ones! Myself and my Esperance crew (Duceman, Donna and Merome) were ultra enthusiastic and got to the gates really early, well before opening time. Once inside we headed down to the main stage. Gerling opened proceedings, all suited up in school uniforms and backpacks. However, it was the second band on the bill, Magic Dirt, that I was excited about. I had their early EPs and first two albums and was pumped to see them. Being 16, Duceman and I thought the only thing to do was jump up and down like crazy during their set. I was puffed within 15 minutes. Magic Dirt played a lot of old songs plus a few tunes that ended up on their What Are Rockstars Doing Today record. After Magic Dirt I think Yothu Yindi or Atari Teenage Riot came on. I remember hating ATR. Meanwhile Shihad had just released The General Electric and proceeded to play an awesome set on the main stage (I think they were filling in for Frenzal Rhomb, who had pulled out... due to Jay's heart attack?). In the middle of the afternoon I headed over and watched Eskimo Joe, who were playing on one of the small stages. I remember them playing a "new song" that Stu sang. It was pretty dodgy. I have no idea what it was called. They also played "a really really old one" which was 14hz. Sweater also made an appearance in the set, and when they played it I got all excited. After watching Eskimo Joe it was a real struggle to get back to the main stage where Blink 182 were playing. They had just released Enema of the State and it seemed as though everyone at the festival was trying to watch them. It was completely nuts.

After Blink I hung around the main stage and watched Grinspoon, Jebediah, Spiderbait, Foo Fighters, Nice Inch Nails and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. During the song Teflon, Kevin from Jebediah did an impromptu cover of the lyrics to Nookie by Limp Bizkit. Spiderbait played songs from all of their records - I seem to remember Scenester, Old Man Sam, Conjunctivitis, Buy Me A Pony, Jesus, Hot Water and Milk, Dinnertime and Shazam being included in their set. By the time the Chilli Peppers were on it was really, really packed and I had no control over where I was moving - I was just getting pushed with the crowd. Eventually I decided it was too scary and after a while I managed to bugger off to the small stage where I caught the tail end of The Hellacopters set. If I wasn't a silly 16 year old with average taste in music I would have nicked off to the small stages far earlier. I managed to miss Cartman, Turnstyle, Love Camp 7, Beth Orton, Joe Strummer, Primal Scream and the Cruel Sea. Doh!

5. JEBEDIAH, MAGIC DIRT & THE SLEEPY JACKSON (All Ages)
@ Grosvenor Backroom, Sunday December 2000

This was an all ages gig on a Sunday afternoon. Duceman and Donna came along too. We had a great time. The Sleepy Jackson were the first band on the bill. This was back in the days when Matt O'Connor was still in the band, Dan Bull played keyboards and danced crazily, and Luke Steele liked wearing a beanie on stage. The band had just put out the Miniskirt single. The Sleepy Jackson opened with The Tuning Song, which was basically this really loud racket in which they tuned up onstage. I thought it was FUCKING AWESOME. This was probably because it was so loud and unruly and I hadn't experienced anything like it before. I can also vaguely recall them playing Miniskirt and Glasshouses.

Next up were Magic Dirt. We were on the barrier for this set. They played a lot of songs off What Are Rockstars Doing Today?, and Adalita scorned the people in the crowd that called out for old songs. Magic Dirt played an awesome version of Come on the Scene. I'm pretty sure I've never seen them play it live since.

Finally Jebediah took to the stage. I think this was the last show of their touring for the Of Someday Shambles record. Jebs set consisted of a blend of that record and Slightly Odway tracks. There was a giant mosh pit and we all jumped up and down like crazy. At the end of the gig I came out of the Grosvenor drenched in sweat and not able to hear properly. For the first time I had ringing in my ears after a gig. Duceman, Donna and I then went and spent the night at Donna's hotel room, where we drank the minibar and watched a dodgy inhouse movie about an unusually proportioned secretary.

A couple of weeks later I went to Bremmer Bay to celebrate New Years Eve. At the local pub I had to endure a terrible cover band called Jacknife who absolutely murdered Jebediah's song Leaving Home. Thankfully this experience (as well as Jacknife's terrible renditions of several other songs) put me off ever wanting to go and see cover bands.

2001

February

6. BIG DAY OUT 2001 (All Ages)
@ Bassendean Oval, Sunday February 4th, 2001

This was the BDO that Limp Bizkit were going to headline, however they pulled out of before they reached Perth due to the Jessica Michalek incident. As a result crowd numbers were well down on the previous year, allowing ample room to move around, even at the main stages.

Frenzal Rhomb were the first band that I recall really grabbing my attention. At the end of their set Frenzal brought two giant paper mache John Howard statues out on stage and got the members of 28 Days to smash the statues to pieces during the song Everything's Fucked! After Frenzal I headed over to the small stage where I watched legendary Aussie punk band The Meanies. Unfortunately the cramped set up at Bassendean Oval meant that the noise from the Boiler Room (the dance area) interfered with the Meanies sound quite substantially. From there it was back to the main stage where I caught the tail end of Coldplay. I think this is the only time at the Big Day Out where I have seen the entire audience at the main stage standing still during a set, rather than the people up the front jumping up and down. Then came one of the highlights of the day.- Queens of the Stone Age. The band had just released Rated R and were on fire. They opened with Feel Good Hit of the Summer and closed with an epic 15 minute version of You Can't Quite Me Baby. QOTSA weren't as popular back then as they are now, so there was lots of room at the front of the stage and I had a prime position for the entire set. After QOTSA's magnificent show, Killing Heidi proceeded to crash and burn on the main stage. Their songs were poor, they had a terrible mix (the guitar was hardly audible, and the bass really loud), and Ella Hooper's crowd banter was infantile. Halfway through Killing Heidi's set I made a much needed exit to the small stage where Perth locals Lowdown put on a surprisingly entertaining show. They had a group of people skanking. Next up would have been You Am I, but unfortunately they had pulled out of the Perth BDO for some reason. As a result I watched a bit of PJ Harvey on the main stage, and the John Butler Trio's set on the small stage. Butler was a very angry man on the day, partly due to the "doof, doof, doof" sound coming from the boiler room interfering with his band's sound.

By the time twilight rolled around, Placebo commenced playing on the main stage. I was surprised by how much of a midget Brian Molko is. There was much debate amongst my friends as to what Placebo's set was like. Donna and I loved it. Duceman and Trippo hated it. The set was filled with tracks from Placebo's first three records, culminating in a stack of singles including Nancy Boy, You Don't Care About Us, Slave to the Wage and Pure Morning. During the latter track Molko substituted in some lyrics from QOTSA's Feel Good Hit Of The Summer, and a couple of members of QOTSA ran on stage and gave Placebo's homosexual bass player Stefan a dry hump.

Second last on the bill were Powderfinger. Their set was a bit of a let down for me as it mostly comprised songs from the band's Odyssey Number Five album. I much prefer Internationalist and Double Allergic.

Finally, the incredible Rammstein closed the night, and proceeded to blow my mind with the most amazing stage show I have ever seen. There were burning microphones and keyboards, explosions and fireworks galore, inflatable rafts that the band used to crowdsurf, onstage masochism and other sexual humour that had the crowd in tears of laughter. On top of that the music was terrific, and it was very comfortable space wise (compared to Powderfinger and Placebo's sets).

After Rammstein, Donna and I wanted to go to the small stage and watch the Go-Betweens, but our friends convinced us to leave instead.

7. SHIHAD, ESKIMO JOE & WANNEROO BATTLE OF THE BANDS (All Ages)
@ Wanneroo Showgrounds, Sunday February 11th, 2001

Duceman and I spent a lot of time on public transport to get to this gig at the Wanneroo Showgrounds. Once we arrived we had to endure a stack of crappy bands who were competing in a Battle of the Bands contest. Fortunately perthonality Brett Rowe was MC for the band comp and kept us amused with his witty banter. After the comp finished Duceman and I spotted Eskimo Joe walking around backstage. We were quite excited about seeing Eskimo Joe, as we had made a video for the band in our media class (which we had sent to them, and they had liked). After lots of yelling we managed to attract one of the band member's attention (I think it was Kav) and he came over and had a chat to us. Kav, Joel and Stu recognised Duceman from the video we had sent the band. Being starry eyed 17 year olds we thought it would be cool to get the band to sign some stuff for us, but all we had on us were out wallets... so that's what they signed, as you can see in the photo above (I missed out on Kav's signature).

Unfortunately by the time Eskimo Joe and Shihad came on stage, Brett Rowe had been replaced by some idiot DJs from Perth radio station 96FM. As for the band's sets... Eskimo Joe played a few tunes off their old EPs, but mostly songs that would end up on the Girl album. Kav dedicated Sweater to Duceman and I by saying, and this is verbatim: "This song is for the Esperance crew, you know who you are, you know why we love you, we're not sure what you're doing in Perth, but hey..." which put a very big smile on our faces. Of the new songs, it was a tune called Who Sold Her Out? that I liked the most. As for Shihad, I recall very little about their set apart from an unfortunate incident involving Duceman and an overzealous security guard. Halfway through Shihad's set, some kid was crowdsurfing and his hat fell off, and Duceman ended up with it. To get rid of the hat he chucked it onstage. A security guard saw Duceman do this and went nuts, throwing him out of the showgrounds! It was crazy. After the gig an incensed Duceman had a big rant about the incident to Shihad frontman Jon Toogood (through one of the Showground's side fences, where Toogood was talking to fans).

March

8. MOTOR ACE & FOURTH FLOOR COLLAPSE (All Ages)
@ Joondalup Festival, Saturday 24th March, 2001

It's sad but true that I actually went to a Motor Ace gig. Let us never speak of this unfortunate incident again.

9. MAGIC DIRT, SIX FOOT HICK & JED WHITEY
'Love ya & Leave ya tour' @ Grosvenor Backroom, Saturday March 31st, 2001

This was my first licensed gig, and remains one of the best I have ever been to. I was underage by three months, but managed to get into the Grosvenor courtesy of a fake ID. Duceman (who was also underage) also came along to the gig, but he didn't have any ID. Due to his stature Duceman managed to bluff his way past the Grosvenor's very intimidating, Nick Oliveri lookalike security guard by telling him he'd left his ID at home.

The first band on the bill was Jed Whitey, who had just released their stellar EP Superfly Bigmuff. JW were very loud, very rock, and very humorous. We thought their songs such as Pull My Finger and Take Me To Your Dealer were excellent, and our obsessive interest in the band commenced thanks to their brilliant set at this gig. Next up were Brisbane madmen Six Foot Hick. I had no idea what to expect from these guys, hence I got one hell of a surprise when the Corbett brothers' started leaping around on stage, twisting their bodies into crazy positions and lighting their chests on fire. I remember one of the Corbetts' getting stuck into the Perth crowd (apparently the previous time they'd come to Perth, supporting Frenzal Rhomb, Six Foot Hick got a very poor reception). Finally Magic Dirt took to the stage. By this time the Grosvenor had sold out and the atmosphere was electric. In contrast to their set at the venue four months earlier, Magic Dirt played a wide variety of material from across their career (this gig is the only time I have heard Babycakes live). Adalita gave a shout out to "All the old Magic Dirt fans, new Magic Dirt fans, and in-between Dirt fans." The band played for about 90 minutes and I got absolutely drenched jumping up and down in the moshpit at the front of the stage.

All three sets at this gig were amazing and strongly influenced me into going to see more live music in the future.

April

10. GRINSPOON, THE SUPERJESUS, JOHN BUTLER TRIO & MACHINE GUN FELATIO (All Ages)
@ Margaret River Masters, April 7th, 2001

I can't remember too much about this concert, except that the lineup was pretty crap, and that the Superjesus amps fucked up early on in their set, and they had to stop for about 15 minutes.

11. ESKIMO JOE & HALOGEN
@ Jigsaw Nightclub, Bunbury, Friday 27th April 2001

My memory of this show is reasonably hazy. Halogen were on first and played a good set to an unenthusiastic crowd. Eskimo Joe were watching Halogen's set from the upper level of the Jigsaw nightclub, and at some stage I went up to Kav and started talking to him. He was very friendly and as a starry eyed 17 year old Eskimo Joe fan speaking to him was the highlight of my night. Looking back now I appreciate how sociable and polite he was, because I presume getting hassled by random fans must get a bit annoying. When Eskimo Joe hit the stage the crowd was in a jovial mood (compared to when Halogen were playing) and the band seemed to be having fun on stage. Like the Wanneroo gig, the set consisted of a mix of songs that would end up on Girl, and tracks from Eskimo Joe's two EPs. The then-current single Wake Up and future singles Who Sold Her Out and Liar stood out in set. And here's some random trivia... the week after this gig the band ventured over East to make the video clip for Who Sold Her Out.

12. JEBEDIAH & RED JEZEBEL (All Ages)
@ Alderbury St Reserve, Floreat, Saturday April 28th, 2001

This all ages gig was held at the Alderbury St Reserve in Floreat to celebrate the opening of a youth skate complex. Before Red Jezebel commenced their set I went up to guitarist Chris Hayes and politely requested that the band play my old favourite C is for Cookie. Unfortunately it didn't happen (when Red Jez came to their last track, Chris said to the rest of the band "Ahh...we've got a request" and they considered playing it, but opted for Itch instead). Despite this Red Jezebel's set was excellent, consisting largely of songs off the band's In Transit and Intermezzo EPs. Jebediah played a mix of old singles and tunes that would end up on their #3 record. After the Jebs set the organiser of the gig made some announcement bagging the hell out Eskimo Joe (who were originally going to headline the gig, but had pulled out).

May

13. BORDELLO & PURRVERT
"What's Up Your Ass?" CD Launch @ Grosvenor Backroom, Saturday May 12th, 2001

The gig was the launch for Bordello's What s Up Your Ass? single. The main thing I recall about Purrvert's set is that their frontwoman Laura G. sounded eerily like Zakk De La Rocha from Rage Against The Machine. There was then some Rip Curl fashion parade in the back of the Grosvenor before Bordello hit the stage. Speaking of Bordello, they were still in the "gimmick" stage of their career, and the entire band dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz for the performance. Before the band's set started they projected a short sequence from the film onto the curtains at the front of the stage. Bordello's set was extremely short for a headliner (about 30 minutes), and as they left either Humphrey or Josh told the audience they had better make some noise and get them back on stage for an encore. The encore did ensue. Highlight track of the evening was Babe-a-rolla.

14. JEBEDIAH, JED WHITEY & THE FERGUSONS
@ Amplifier Bar, Saturday, May 19th, 2001

This was an a bit of an odd lineup, with The Fergusons and Jed Whitey on the same bill. I was still underage at the time but my trusty fake ID got me past the bouncers.

I was quite interested in seeing The Fergusons, as they were getting rave reviews in X-Press and Hype at the time. I seem to remember that I only saw a few of the Fergies songs... I liked Waste of Time but I was a bit confused by the rest of the band's set. This is a bit amusing in retrospect, as The Fergusons would later become one of my favourite Perth bands. The main thing I remember about the Fergies at this gig is that I discovered their frontman Al was dating a girl from my High School. (Hadie Vandenberg for any Esperance folks that remember her).

I remember absolutely nothing about Jed Whitey's set. As for Jebediah, they opened up with Eveready and then proceeded to play songs from their #3 record, which was still months away from release. Despite this the crowd was very enthusiastic and there was a large moshpit. At the end of the night Jebediah asked for requests from the crowd, and ended up playing Harpoon and Tracksuit.

The other thing I remember about this gig is that there was a crazy number of Esperance people there (Gavin Collins and his woman, Elisa Spengler, Tamara Swann, and a whole host of bogans from the Hostel).

June

15. BORDELLO & KLIPPSPRINGER
@ Amplifier Bar, Saturday June 9th, 2001

Myself and my gig-buddy Duceman arrived at this gig in time to see the brilliant Klippspringer play three or four songs, including the fantastic Sweet-o-meeter. Bordello then played an uninspired set to a half-full Amplifier.

July

16. FRENZAL RHOMB, STRUNG OUT & BOREDUMB (All Ages)
@ Grosvenor Backroom, Sunday 15 July 2001

Myself, my younger brother Matt, Duceman, and either Donna or Trippo went along to this all ages Frenzal Rhomb gig. We went to 78 Records before the gig started to buy tickets, but they had sold out. Despite this we enthusiastically rocked up to the Grosvenor, and after deliberations with the security and door staff we were allowed into the packed backroom. I remember next to nothing about the bands' sets. My main memory is that there was a group of people slam dancing during Strung Out's set. One of the slam dancers was a girl who was about 4ft tall and looked about 10 years old!

17. SCREAMFEEDER & TEAM JEDI
@ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Saturday July 28th, 2001

This gig took place on a freezing cold night. The crowd was very small. Team Jedi were pretty boring. However, Screamfeeder were brilliant. I'd only heard a couple of Screamfeeder songs before I came to the gig, so I wasn't sure what to expect. They opened up with a fantastic version of Mr Tuba and followed it up with heap of catchy pop/rock songs. I was so impressed by Screamfeeder's set that in the months following the gig I went and tracked down a large chunk of their back catalogue. Unfortunately X-Press reviewer Julian Tompkin didn't enjoy the gig and gave the band a bad review. A week later someone wrote into X-Press complaining about Julian's review. You can read that letter and the original review by clicking on the thumbnails above.

August

18. JED WHITEY, ROLLERSKATES, AUTOPILOT & KINGPIN
X-Press 16th Birthday Party @ Amplifier Bar, Perth, Thursday August 8th, 2001

Myself and Duceman went to X-Press's 16th Birthday bash to see Jed Whitey. This was the first JW gig to feature Luke Margetic on guitar. Another change was that Louis was now singing most of the band's songs (until this point in the band's career, Luke Marinovich had handled most of vocal duties).

19. ESKIMO JOE, SEKIDEN & IKEY MO
Girl CD Launch @ Globe Theatre, Perth, Friday August 17th, 2001

This gig was the launch for Eskimo Joe's debut album Girl. The first band on the bill was Ikey Mo. I remember liking the band's rocking numbers (one of which was probably Chemical Girl) but being disinterested in their moodier songs. Then came the highlight of the night - Sekiden. They were absolutely fantastic. Seja, Mirko and Simon were extremely energetic on stage. At one point Simon climbed dangerously high on top of some speakers or amps and took a massive leap off them.

By this time Eskimo Joe hit the stage the Globe was pretty full. You can see the setlist that Eskimo Joe played above, as well as a sheet that 2nd guitarist Fergus had at his feet so that he knew how to play the song Just Like Me (which I think the band debuted at this show). During the Eskies set Duceman yelled out for RSPCA Lovesong a few times, but there was no chance that the band would play it.

20. AUTOPILOT & SEKIDEN
Out of the Sun CD Launch @ Amplifier Bar, Wednesday August 29th, 2001

I was so blown away by Sekiden's set at Eskimo Joe's CD launch that I decided to go and see them again a few days later at Autopilot's CD launch. Autopilot oddly staged the event on a Wednesday night. Despite being a mid-week gig, the Amplifier was packed out. This may have been due in part to the fact that there was free beer between 8 and 9pm.

I missed The Fergusons but managed to catch Sekiden's set. Unfortunately the band was a bit off on the night. Front man Simon blamed this on himself, saying to the crowd, "It's frustrating when your equipment doesn't work, and tonight the equipment that's failing is me." As for Autopilot, I found them pretty boring on the night. In retrospect, this is a little amusing as a couple of years later my musical tastes changed, I tracked down their EPs and I now love Autopilot dearly. I remember they opened up at the CD launch with their JJJ-favourite Bullit, complete with a horn section The band got a very good reception on the night..

September

21. JED WHITEY, CAPITAL CITY & 36'24'36'
@ Hyde Park Hotel, North Perth, Friday September 7th, 2001

This was the first gig I attended at the Hydey. I was fucking scared of the crowd, and somewhat confused that there was no stage! 36' 24' 36 were an all girl punk combo that I quite liked on the night. There was only one guitar solo in their set, and it only went for a few seconds. Capital City I hated, which is funny given they would end up becoming one of my favourite Perth bands! Capital City had a lot of technical problems on the night. The best part of Capital City's set was Sam Scherr's aggression towards the crowd. As for Jed Whitey, they were fucking awesome and very loud. I had ringing in my ears for the two days following their set.

22. MAGIC DIRT, LASH, GYROSCOPE & MORE (All Ages)
Stir It Up festival @ Northbridge, Sunday September 23rd, 2001

This mini-festival took place near the train station in the centre of Perth. The original line up consisted of Magic Dirt, Lash, Pollyanna and Blueline Medic. However, just before the gig took place Ansett Airlines went bust, which meant that Pollyanna didn't have a flight to Perth anymore. As a result Gyroscope filled in for them.

Lash were receiving lots of media attention at the time for their singles Take Me Away and Beauty Queen and as a result they had a lot of people watching them. The band sounded very average. Recently my friend Donna told me, "I've never heard a band on the radio and then gone to see them live, and had them sound as bad as Lash did that day." When Magic Dirt hit the stage Adalita announced that she hadn't seen Lash before, and she didn't mind some of their songs. Magic Dirt's set was awesome, and consisted mostly of older material, including a great version of Fairy Park.

October

23. JED WHITEY & SUBTRUCK
Rockstars 2: Talentus @ Hyde Park Hotel, North Perth, Saturday October 13th, 2001

Duceman and I went along to this gig to see Jed Whitey. Also on the bill was Subtruck, who I absolutely hated. I thought all their songs sounded like a horrible drone. This is quite amusing in retrospect, as like Capital City and Autopilot (see above), Subtruck would end up being one of my favourite local bands. In contrast to me, Duceman loved Subtruck. I can't remember much about Jed Whitey's set, but you can look at their setlist from the night by clicking on the thumbnail to the left of your screen.

24. ESKIMO JOE, LASH, AUTOPILOT, JED WHITEY, LOCAL PRICKS, TEAM JEDI, THE NORDEENS & MC DAN DURACK (3 ORANGE WHIPS)
Firecracker 2001 @ Globe & Amplifier two room spectacular, Saturday October 27th, 2001

This was an interesting two room gig at the Globe Entertainment Complex (Capitol/Amplifier nowadays) featuring a heap of local bands. Myself, Donna and Duceman went along. We arrived just in time to catch Jed Whitey, who were playing their last show of the year. It was one of the worst JW set's I've seen. This was due to there being about 10 punters in the room and the band looking uncharacteristically dejected on stage. From there on I saw a bit of the Local Pricks, The Nordeens, most of Autopilot's set, Lash (who played a cover of That Ain't Bad by Ratcat) and Eskimo Joe, who finished off their set with a cover of The Police's Can't Stand Losing You. Duceman wanted to stay for the M16s, who had a reputation for being the loudest band in Perth. However by the time Eskimo Joe finished it was already about 2am, and I had to play a Colts cricket match the next day, so I left.

December

25. ESKIMO JOE, BORDELLO & CHERRY WILSON (All Ages)
Arty Farty Street Party @ Leederville, Sunday December 2nd, 2001

This was an interesting mini-festival that was held in Leederville. Bordello put on an entertaining show and got quite a good reception from the crowd. Eskimo Joe's set included a wonderful cover of I Got U by Split Enz - complete with some serious reverb on Kav's vocals. The writing was on the wall for Sweater, which the band introduced as "Too Many Times."

26. THE FAUVES, AUTOPILOT & AREA 7
@ Metropolis Fremantle, Sunday December 16th, 2001

In December 2001 a festival (called "Slingshot") was organised in Perth. The festival had some excellent bands on the line up, including The Titanics, Snout and The Fauves. However the festival ended up getting cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Fortunately some of the bands still came to Perth and played their own pub shows. I wanted to see both The Titanics and The Fauves, but unfortunately the bands' shows clashed. Nevertheless, I was determined to see both bands.

Initially myself and Duceman, Donna and Trippo ventured down to the Rosemount Hotel in North Perth to watch the Titanics. Upon arrival we discovered that the The Anyones were playing in the timeslot that we expected the Titanics have. This left us with a dilemma. Did we stay at the Rosemount and watch the Titanics, or drive down to Metropolis Fremantle, where The Fauves were scheduled to be the second band on stage? After much deliberation we decided to ditch the Titanics and go and watch the Fauves instead.

When we arrived at Metros, we unexpectedly discovered that headliners Area 7 were the first band on (due to having to catch an early flight back to the east coast). As a result we had to sit through them and Autopilot before the Fauves came on. We were pretty pissed, as if we had known this in advance we could have stayed at the Rosemount, watched the Titanics, and then headed down to Metros to still caught the Fauves :-(

Fortunately the Fauves played an awesome set that was dominated by tracks from their Thousand Yard Stare album. Also thrown into the set was Self Abuser, The Charles Atlas Way and a couple of "new songs", one of which was a funky version of Nairobi Nights. At the end of the Fauves' set Duceman and some random drunkard yelled passionately for the Fauves to return to the stage and play Understanding Kyuss. To our delight the band did return and played it, as well as Dogs Are The Best People.

Duceman summed the night up nicely on the old Perthbands website:

Area 7 - ska still sucks. Ska bands should not cover AC/DC, and Bogans are good people once you get to know 'em.

Autopilot - despite the good songs, I still maintain that they are a very boring band. I know it doesn't make sense. I think the chesty bonds/ mark 'jako' jackson lookalike drummer has something to do with it.

The Fauves - They were fucken awesome. Good songs, a sprinkling of old and new, and they played Understanding Kyuss for me. Brilliant.

Old Perthbansd thread about the gig

27. SHIHAD, COG & FROM THE INSIDE
@ Punters Club, Fitzroy, Friday December 28th, 2001

I was in Melbourne on holidays with my friend Donna when we went along to this gig at the sadly-deceased Punters Club. I was drinking double vodka and oranges most of the night so I don't remember much, except that Shihad were very good, and debuted two "new songs", which were Comfort Me and Semi-Normal. They sounded good live, but terrible when they eventually came out on record.

28. SNOUT, REGURGITATOR, RESIN DOGS, SOMETHING FOR KATE, ALEX LLOYD, BODYJAR, PAUL KELLY, LAZARO'S DOG & ONE DOLLAR SHORT (All Ages)
Falls Festival @ Lorne, Victoria, Sunday December 30th, 2001

After the Punters Club gig Donna and I headed down to Lorne to attended the two-night Falls Festival. We saw a lot of crap bands on the first day of the festival. Thankfully, we also saw a few good sets. Snout played early on the main stage and were awesome. Lazaro's Dog (remember their Home Entertainment System song) played a very humorous set on the small stage. All of the band members wore netball bibs, and at one stage the band's bald headed bass player got nude. Lazaro's Dog played a very amusing cover of Kids in America which went down a treat. Paul Kelly was also pretty good on the main stage. Unfortunately as the day progressed I got very sick (I have no idea why) and really needed to leave the festival and go back to my hotel room. However, between 7pm and midnight there was no way of doing this, as no transport runs between Lorne and the Falls Festival site between those times. As a result of my sickness I did not enjoy most of the bands that played during the night, and I ended up leaving during Regurgitator's set.

The next day I was so sick that I ended up not being able to go back to the festival. As a result I missed The Hives play their first Australian show.

The next night at 4am Donna and I had to catch a taxi to Geelong. To our surprise, our taxi driver was from Esperance (the town we grew up in). It's a small world :)