While the rest of the city is at home watching pop idol on the telly on a school night, in town there's Har Mar Superstar and the Go! Team doing their thing live. Har Mar the tubby geezer's a bit too, er, icky for me. So the Go! Team it is.
First band on the night's bill, Mid-State Orange. Their publicity material said something about 60's pop. Listening to it I was thinking of some sort of inde-Krautrock. Two guitars, bass, keys and drums. The drummer was freaking me out because I thought he was making sounds by hitting the air and had me thinking what kind of crazy, theremin-style contraption have they got going on here? It wasn't until near the end of the set that I finally figured out he's holding shakers in his fist while waving his drums stick next to the mic stand. I was tired, it was back-to-school week, get off my case. Mid-State Orange was pleasant. Next time I'll be making the effort to make sure I catch their full set.
Second, the Grates. I had said many times, hottest band in Australia right now, and I still stand by that. The venue was filling up, but it still wasn't packed tight yet, which is just about perfect. The three of them looked small on this stage. During soundcheck Alana the drummer played a drum solo funky enough to shut the crowd up and get heads nodding and feet tapping. Totally cool. But then, those who know me knows I do have a thing for girl drummers. (THEY RAWK!!!) This being a school night, the hardcore party animals (including the band) just came back from the Splendour festival, the rest of the crowd still in a school night mood, it wasn't a jumpy, hyperactive set. The crowd was a bit more subdued, even though front girl (with the ironic name of ) Patience was still able to deliver a terrific performance, jumps and quirky dance moves galore. Me with my girl drummer fetish was focusing my attention on the girls while John the guitarist played by himself on the other side of stage not really doing much of note throughout the set. The song "feels like pain" was a highlight for me.
Like a cross between the Wiggles and an old Benetton ad, the united colours of The Go! Team came on all happy, positive, multi-racial and solid block colours. Is that politically incorrect of me? But I'm a fan! I'm all for it! We need more of it, I say!
Big bands with too many instruments. The more I think about it, the more it feels like a fad that won't last. But I'll enjoy it while it's here. Think it's still better than Har Mar's cheesy-disco/smut-fest fad. Let's see if I can remember. Two drum kits (that gimmick will always pull me in), two guitars, bass, two keyboards, harmonica, recorder, (yes! think back to primary school, y'all!) an instrument like a cross between a recorder and a toy keyboard, and an assortment of shakers, bells and things inbetween. It's rock'n roll, but not as we know it. I can't remember the last time I was mashed up the front at a rock show, getting elbowed and elbowing people. Like their album, it was short, crazy, psychedelic fun. There was lots of stuff not on their record. Extra special was the quieter tune with the tiny girl drummer (yay!) getting up from the back to sing a quiet little song as a thank you to something or other. Where I was standing it was hard to make out what anyone was saying or singing on the stage. All I heard was screams. Listening to this set, they may have more life in them yet, with songs pushing towards down tempo moody soundscapes (comparatively speaking), to hip-hop, to that quiet little tune. More than a one trick pony, they are. But of course, they can do the bombastic, crowd rocking stuff damn well as good as any one. In fact, by now, some people in the crowd up front were getting well beyond "hyper" and into "damn annoying". Oh well. Try as they may they still couldn't ruin a fantastic show tonight.