Review - Custard + FiniScad
+ The Youth Group
@ The Iron Duke Hotel
21/08/98
Being a guest of Duke
for local up-&-coming acts is in no way preparation for the way the room
fills out for a big-name bill such as tonight’s fare. Mr Irvine assures that it
was the fourth time this week for such a feat. Most of the quite large crowd
were already getting into the power indie-pop of the opening act by the time I
had fought my way through to a relatively good vantage point. The Youth Group
have a You
Am I/MYC/Fauves/Sidewinder
sound about them, complete with the Tim Rogers jumps about the stage.
Their single Weekender is
due out about the end of September and it is recommended that this and/or a gig
of their own be sought out. Love those false-fades! ««««
FiniScad seem more relaxed than
their headline spot of three weeks ago, but still gave 100%+ to the crowd whose
number hadn’t changed from the opening act, only the face. The set hadn’t changed
much from the Annandale gig; the addition of backing-vocals made for a good
look, even though we couldn’t really hear them. The mistakes tonight were in Not Real, separate vocal and playing
slips, but were missed by everyone else, and Dave Thomas still insists
on dancing for his drummer. The comment about testing his hair product on
animals because it was stinging his eyes was also a nice touch «««¼
F***wit of the night award was to be given by
the crowd around him to Mr Piercedlip, determined to be the only one to have a
good time, even during the break! Runner-up went to Mr Albury-Wodonga, who
thought that a short chat was an invitation from the girl in front of him was
an invitation to grab her roughly and dance during a good song. Not all girls are
on the prowl, fool!
Custard were on and into “18 of our
favourite songs” in no time. They over-delivered, too, but did that mean the
other five tunes weren’t favourites? Anatomically
Correct kicked things off, followed by the disco-anthem Feel Like Ringo, then Apartment. The show then zigzagged all
over the place like a Dire
Straits concert (I was young and impressionable in the early 80s),
with an up-vibe for I Could Never Be Your
Woman, a cover-version surprise for all, Music Is, Crap, Nice Bird,
Alone and the encores Rockfish Anna and Jim Henson. It was down in between. There were a lot of fans in the
“mosh pit” that were going for it most of the time, but those of us in the
over-flow and beyond tended to be turning to the Bulldogs match for the down
time. A number were disappointed by the omission of Video Killed... but hey! If ya wanna see a covers band....
Custard absolutely love their work;
Mr
Strong the showman as ever, but the up-&-down wore thin. Having
seen them at the Crowded
House farewell and during the 1995 Turn Up Your Radio tour with Fauves and Fireballs,
I expected a bit more. The sound was as good as it gets at the Duke,
and the lighting was up there, too. Over all, though, the show didn’t flow as
well as it could have «««¾