Livid 2001
13-10-01
RNA Showgrounds
Brisbane
People Watching
Well as per usual there were a lot of farkwits at Livid. But you get that at festivals. Why do these people NEVER support local acts? Gives me the shits I must say. Seems like the most popular t shirt of Livid 2001 was the home made one with what bands that planned to see as a gig guide on their back or front written in niko pen. Though I was darn well excited to see a home made RIVER CITY REBELS t shirt- Rachel you rule! Fluoro hair spray was a popular way for many of the losers around. I’m just glad when they get all sweaty the dye must run into their eyes and sting or annoy like all shit. Fairy wings and bikini tops with your tits half hanging out were still a goer, whilst other girls picked to dress in school uniforms, and I even saw a Charlotte’s Angels and some chick dress as an American Native Indian (feathers and all). For guys either the beefcake no shirt look or wife beaters. One guy had a pair of cargo shorts which he wrote on in pen, things like If lost return to 25 Torrens Street, money here, passport here, etc etc. Two of my friends class Livid as a perve experience, standing around most of the time just checking out tits and arse. So of course they also assisted me in the perving stakes but they picked Melvin J Geekmeirs. Cruel I know. Meanwhile I was checking out the tats of some dudes. Some awesome tats around I must say. When I was walking around I heard these guys say “Tats are definitely the go”. Then they dragged out a niko pen and started drawing Celtic designs as arm bands on themselves. Cripes what it is with festivals and fashion? Do these people have any sense? Not that I am any queen but I hope I was a little more tasteful.
Bands
It wasn’t hard for me to pick my time table this year as there weren’t that may bands that appealed to me. Some that I saw were the best on offer at the time. Oh the Loudmouth Stage had not bad, pretty good, not bad sound for an outdoor festival. The main stages sounded like crap.
So here you have what I saw:
12.50- 1.35 Mark of Cain
1.40-2.25 28 Days
2.30-3.10 H2O
4.30-5.15 The Porkers
5.20-6.20 Mad Professor
6.40-7.30 Good Charlotte
7.50- 8.50 Rollins Band
9.00-10.00 Area 7
10.00-11.00 Billy Bragg
Mark Of Cain obviously just wanted to get to the business of playing music. These guys aren’t really known to me for between song chatter and they lived up to this today. The deal, spread legs and play heavy and hard. There was no prancing around for these guys.
What is it with the words “fuck” and “cunt”? If Jay (28 Days) would a said them one more time I was going to scream. I’m no prude but holy crap talk about try to impress with as much swearing as possible. Loads of dedications to various bands like Day of Contempt and H2O. The only thing that impressed me with 28 Days was that they explained some meanings behind some of the songs they played. I want the OLD 28 Days back before they hit the charts.
Everyone was talking about H2O and no wonder. I have
never seen these guys before and I hope they will hurry back for another tour in
a smaller venue. They have heaps of energy ensuring that stage was used to their
full advantage. They cained it and cained it hard. If your into tats like I am,
these boys have enough tats to check out for hours. The security was asked it
was ok for a few ppl to get on stage with em… of course the answer was no! So
they called for everyone to make a huge circle skank and the crowds delivered.
So much so that the security guards told H2O no more instigation of circles. I
was “lucky” to be on the edge of the circle so I ended up getting all these
people bagging into me but that was way cool in the name of fun. There were a
few casualties but nothing too serious. I got to admit it was great to see them
all looking after each other. If someone fell, someone helped them up. That
rocks. Some REAL gig goers in the crew! H2O dedicated some songs to 28 Days and
Billy Bragg. They did make some remarks about the Sept 11 events but did not
dwell on them but dedicated a tune to the NYC Firefighters. Everyone basically
cheered. They did call a few bands pussies (or similar word) for pulling out of
Livid. There was one girl about 15 just on front of me that surprised the shit
outta me, she was singing at the top of her lungs every tune and if I woulda
seen her trotting around I would have never of guessed she was a H2O fan.
Awesome stuff. . Good to know you can’t always judge a book by it’s cover. I’d
never heard them do a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” but farkin hell it was
ace. The lead singer
As the Hives pulled out at the last minute, The Porkers were asked to join the Livid lineup. I’m so glad they could make it, as they are one of my favourite Aussie bands. The songs they played were a mixture of old and new. Now my memory is going to be tested here: I didn’t think, Porkman, Arthur Gram and the Combie Van, Big Backyard, Alcohol, Schooners of the Black, Not at All and more. Where I was standing at first I keep getting the looks from the chicks in front of me to shut up. I was singing at the top of my lungs I know, but I couldn’t help myself. Pete has learnt some new moves I think, I’ve never seen him swing the mic so high and catch it before plus some newer dance moves. I ended up moving to a spot where I could skank and yell with no one givin me “piss off” looks. In the end I meet a girl from the Porkers email list (Carlie) and there ended up being quite a lot of skankin going on around me. Even some bloke that looked like a full on goth was way into it. Gutsy nearly got lost when he stormed into the crowd for Alcohol. By the end of the set I had lost my voice just about and had a memory reminded wear sports bras in future. I dunno if I never pay that much attention to what the Porkers wear but I thought their outfits normally had a red stripe down them, these days they are donning a grey stripe. Have I missed this before or is it new? The Porkers as usual put on a fine performance. This was one of the few times I have seen the Porkers and NOT had one beer. Wooo hooo!!!!!!!!!! {Word from Pete Porker: It was the debut of the grey striped shirts]
Now off I go to the Doof stage to see the dub professional Mad Professor. Maybe I was expecting too much, but it was a boring as bat shit. Watching some guy play vinyl and occasionally twiddling a few knobs is not my idea of a great show. I soon bailed in search of something better to do.
I got to hear some of Nerf Herder and all I can say is there humour is along the lines of Guttermouth. They specifically requested for a “fat” guy to volunteer to get on stage. So of course one guy did… then they asked for some girls to volunteer showing their tits (as they put it) on stage. But when the girls got up there they asked them to sit on the guy… one on his legs the other on his face. They also went on about farking your mother etc etc. Bands like this shit me to tears.. get a life guys. This sort of humour is not funny, its down right offensive. Warped from Melb may not of had the same humour but they stank too. Melb rock bands- stay there, your crap and I don’t want to hear ya.
I went to see Good Charlotte as my dear friend Kitten told me they were cute. So whom am I not to go? In fact these guys from Washington have a lot more to offer than cute looks. For a pop punk band these guys blast the arse off many pop punk band these days. The energy they put into their set was a total highlight. These guys obviously play with passion. Many people expect these guys to be the next big thing here, and I can see why. They are bloody good at what they do. They talked about their songs and why they were written which is a good thing for people like me whom often wonder what inspires bands to write lyrics. They also asked the crowd if they loved punk rock. The crowd screamed and yelled back. Fark don’t you hate fakes? As if that many people go to local gigs? No way. Most of the clowns watching Good Charlotte wouldn’t know what punk was if it was staring em in the face. The only punk bands they prolly know are the ones to make top 40. I wish these people would either A. stop lieing or b. get into punk, not just top 40 punk. After speaking to someone that I thought would hate them- all he could do was rave about how awesome they were both as people and musicians. He got to meet them backstage. I was more than shocked I must say. So they musta have made a good impression not only on me but to others as well.
The Rollins band scared the shit outta me. Henry is one intense man that I would hate to see in a dark alley late at nite. I think his % body fat must be close to zero. With every muscle in his body totally defined. Seeing Search and Destroy on anyone’s back is scaring shit. As with Mark of Cain, The Rollins did a job playing hard fast music, not one for pansies or fairies. When Henry got a drink of water it was more wet your mouth and then spurt it out all over the stage. The heat emitting from his body you could see. I got sick of all the wankers around me pushing and shoving so I only saw some of The Rollins Band. But Henry certainly made more than a small impression on my mind.
Another one of my favourite Aussie acts Area 7, got to headline the Loudmouth Stage which they musta been pretty impressed about. Stevo was in fine form doin a lot of talking about a lot of things- racism, violence, Sept 11 events and war, and their songs. He got out their video camera to take shots of the crowd for apparently a video. They played a mix of tracks from Green Eggs and Ham, Second Class Citzen, Bitter Words to new ones from “Say it to my Face” their new CD. My personal favs from the new ones are JJ and Nobody likes a Bogan. Stevo got a little outta beathe at times or so it seemed. He got down to the crowd barrier and was mobbed by fans wanting to touch him and sing in the mic. They got a bloody good crowd participation happening to Nobody likes a Bogan. There was a circle skank happening at the back of the crowd where I got to spot someone whom say they never skanks- skanking. Go for it Tanya! Over the years Area 7’s fan base has grown and somewhat changed a little. Most of the people around had no idea how to skank to the ska tunes and looked at people skanking like they had 3 heads or something. I hope from Area 7 come some new ska fans that get to know and love not only Area 7 but also the huge number of other ska acts out there. Stevo did mention supporting local bands- that’s one excellent thing, even if only one more person gets along to local gigs that one more than we had.
Who would ever imagine that one guy and his guitar drinking tea on stage would be the total highlite for the day. Well Mr.Billy Bragg was certainly that and more. I expect a lot from Billy Bragg and he has not once failed me yet. This guy has stuff to say and sings the most wonderful tunes that brings some to tears. I would hazard a guess that most people watching Billy tonite had been hard core fans for a long time. Most were singing along and watching in aure. Of course there were a few stooges that popped their head in to see what was going on. One chick behind me was saying “Who is this? Who is this?” Over and over again to her friend. In the end I turned around and said Billy Bragg. Then she asked where he was from…The UK I replied. Not long after she left. I suppose to the pop junkies Billy is not “hip” enough. Little do they realize he is more hip than most clowns walking around breathing valuable air. Billy Bragg spoke about the Queen not coming to Australia, Sept 11 events, Unions, Wanting a two day weekend (Sun and Mon), the election, wanting Henry Rollins body, The Kangaroos not touring the UK, the list seems endless. I must say I was more than chuffed to hear “A Lover Sings”. This without doubt is one of my all time favourite songs. He played olden goldies as well a few ones that will are on the forth coming album.
By the end of the day my feet wore sore and I just wanted to go home. I had a great day, saw bands I wanted to see, spoke to heaps of people and basically danced me arse off at times. A lot of stooges around me were pissed or drug farked so much so that many couldn’t remember what they saw today. Suck shit losers!
