Gigs

All the gigs I've ever been to (that I can remember!), complete with comments made at the time in my Livejournal, or on Usenet, or in my personal diary, as well as some reminiscing added more recently.

29-May-2004 - Ikon, Immaculata, Dandelion Wine @ Necropolis, The Cambridge Hotel

..headed off to The Tote to see Ikon, Immaculata and Dandelion Wine play. Ikon were on first, not many people there by that time unfortunately. Also I was sad to see Dave Burns and his drumkit not there - I heard that Anthony had left to concentrate on The Redresser, but I didn't know that Dave had gone too. New guitarist Clifford (from Subterfuge) was excellent though - I love Anthony's playing, but it always seemed to fit The Redresser better than Ikon. Clifford fits perfectly. And it was great to get a couple of Jerusalem Syndrome songs in there for him to sing ("Waves Of Sorrow" and "Cydonia"). Dandelion Wine didn't grab me so much - they weren't bad, and it's nice to see some different instrumentation in there, but just not that memorable. Immaculata, however, really surprised me. I'd seen them twice while living in Melbourne, hated them, and would never have seen them again if they weren't playing with someone I wanted to see. But they are so much better now! With a new keyboard player, and a female vocalist added to the mix, they are so much more interesting.. I couldn't believe I was enjoying myself! :-)

Livejournal, 7/6/2004

5-Mar-2004 - Dead Inside The Chrysalis, MM9, Zombie Ghost Train, Mz. Ann Thropik @ @NEWTOWN

Zombie Ghost Train were most fine on Friday, although not as good as the previous time I saw them, thanks to the bridge collapsing on Aaron's double bass and forcing him to use a bass guitar. Oh well. I didn't like MM9 at all, and I fear that Dead Inside The Chrysalis have indeed moved in a direction I don't like. They seem quite polished now, though, and they may well go places. Anyway, bought the ZGT e.p. "Monster Formal Wear", it's great.

Livejournal, 9/3/2004

17-Jan-2004 - Zombie Ghost Train, The Alohas, The Booby Traps, Bubble Vicious @ Bar Broadway

I went to see Mr. Julian and his band Bleepin' J. Squawkins play as part of the Clan Analogue residency at the Bat & Ball Hotel on Friday night. It's not really my cup of tea (probably would have been more so a while back when I was listening to a lot of Severed Heads) but they had comfy couches and beer and it was cool to see Julian in action finally. It did sound like good bleepin', though, and the people there who were more into that sort of thing than me sure were having fun.

Livejournal, 14/5/2003

However, I got a call from my friend Daniel in Canberra saying he was coming up to Sydney for the weekend and wanted to catch up. Since I of course wouldn't be around on the weekend proper, he suggested we go and catch X and Fourplay at the Annandale on Friday night. I could see my decent night's sleep evaporating but said "yes" anyway, and damn I'm glad that I did. It was the best goddamn gig!! I can't believe that X have been around for something like 25 years and I've never seen them before (heard the name often enough..) They have got to be one of the best straight-up rock bands I have ever seen.

Livejournal, 5/5/2003

Round about 6:30, I called up the Annandale to see what time doors were opening for the gig.

So a mad rush ensued. I met up with kehua at Central and zipped down to the Annandale. We'd missed Beastianity, but that was all.

Non didn't really do it for me. Basically, a guy pounding the hell out of a drum, some acoustic guitar on some songs, and Boyd Rice ranting away through various effects boxes. Which, as it happens, is much the same set of elements that was to make up Death In June's set, but it just didn't all come together that well for me. Plus there was some weird interplay going on in the crowd between this crusty old guy, a girl, and a guy in a Nazi uniform. Definite vibe of potential fighting on the dancefloor. It didn't help me enjoy Non at all.

And then Death In June. The same guy who was drumming for Non appeared, now clad in winter camouflage and a mask, and started pounding. Then Douglas P arrived, also of course camouflaged and masked, waving a DIJ banner before taking position before a drum of his own. They opened with a blistering rendition of Until The Living Flesh Is Burned, followed by several other double-drummed songs, before Douglas replaced his white mask with his, um, helmet-with-a-mop-hanging-in-front-of-his-face (the one he was wearing when he played with Ikon in Melbourne last year), and his drum with an acoustic guitar.

What followed was a completely trance-inducing set, just one great DIJ song after another. I recall Little Black Angel, The Golden Wedding Of Sorrow, Ku Ku Ku, Hollows Of Devotion, But What Ends When The Symbols Shatter?, All Pigs Must Die, Tick Tock, Disappear In Every Way, The Enemy Within (with changed lyrics - "These are strange days for you, me and Australia"), Luther's Army, Rose Clouds Of Holocaust, Fields Of Rape, To Drown A Rose, Heaven Street, She Said Destroy, Fall Apart, Leper Lord, C'est Un Rêve (also with changed lyrics - "Where is Bin Laden?"), Giddy Giddy Carousel, Smashed To Bits, Kameradschaft, Death Of The West and We Said Destroy II.

World Inc. were solid although they didn't play my favourite song of theirs. The support band Dos Dedos were fucking insane, think hairy guys in short dresses, a guy dressed as Jesus crucified on the side of the stage, the singer waving a (dead) chicken around and songs exclusively about sex, masturbation, drugs and alcohol (except for one about Osama bin Laden). Madness.

Livejournal, 3/4/2003

When the sun set and it became mercifully (slightly) cooler, I headed out to meet Leigh* and go to see Rowland S. Howard and his band at the Town Hall Hotel. Man, it was like seeing a band in someone's living room. And it was free! Unbelievable! They were great - Rowland can sure make a guitar sing, better than he sings, anyway. :-)

Livejournal, 28/1/2003

Gig last night was pretty damn fine. Seven Tongues were much improved by being in the proper environment, i.e. at a pub playing with other rock bands, rather than at Heresy. Sëbasröckets were more together than last time I saw them - all 4 members took to the stage at the start of the gig, and remained there. They rocked. Junkatique were really good - they remind me kinda of a more-poppy Lunachicks - certainly their singer's delivery reminds me of Theo from the Lunachicks. Definite dash of SoCal pop-punk in there too. And the drummer set his sticks on fire, breathed fire, then played with the flaming sticks until they went out, then kicked over the drums at the end. This was while they were covering Mötley Crüe's "Dr. Feelgood". Ah yes, much rock.

Got to Heresy and drank a Red Bull, in the hope of waking up and sobering up. It did help, although that was counteracted somewhat by the beers I kept on buying and drinking all night. Unfortunately it was another "they've rented out the top floor to someone else" debacle. Eventually we took over the lounge, and a band called Motif played. They were just a guy playing acoustic guitar and a girl singing, quite nice though. Hampered somewhat by the idiots upstairs not knowing how to close the goddamn door behind them as they went in and out.

Livejournal, 16/12/2002

Friday night I headed out to The Tote to see some bands. Met up with Kim there, and Beagle joined us a little later. He'd been at a work xmas party and was rather somewhat drunk. Didn't really catch Trickledown because we were out in the beer garden. Sforzando, the "pirate band" were next. They were pretty cool, although they were missing 2 of their 6 members and said themselves that it wasn't a good show. But there were songs about mutiny and rum and walking the plank, and they did "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?". Then Kim & Beagle left. Then I waited and waited and drank and drank and finally Mutiny took to the stage. These guys are so much like The Pogues that it's scary. They totally rocked, I must say, and had a great enthusiastic crowd.

Livejournal, 16/12/2002

Well, last night I went to a gig at Stranger's recommendation. Except he didn't show up so I was all by myself. That didn't matter, though, because there was a bartender there to serve me beer, and three great bands.

The Red Hot Poker Dots describe themselves as "smokin' twistabilly country-bop". They were excellent, guitar, double bass & drums, male & female vocals, maybe just a little too much country influence in there for me. But if you've never seen a band that featured a short but heavily tattooed girl perched atop a double bass, well, you just haven't lived!

Blue Movie were heavier, more straight-ahead psychobilly. Unfortunately their mix wasn't as good as the other bands, I think the vocals were way too low. Great guitar sound though, and of course also a double bass & drums. :-)

The Casino Rumbers headlined, playing their "psychobilly with horns". They had a huge sound, adding a trumpet and trombone to the ever present guitar, double bass & drums. The crowd really got into them, and some of them could even dance! They did a great covers of "Misirlou" by Dick Dale (yeah, you know it, even if you've never heard of it - that's the track that plays over the opening credits of Pulp Fiction) and "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'".

Livejournal, 30/11/2002

..off to Heresy. A band (Seven Tongues) was playing, which is bad news for Sarah since it means the door-bitches' post is at the side door, in the face of an arctic breeze, rather than the usual indoor position. As it happens, it was bad news for me too, because the band sucked. I could have caught the last tram home, but instead I hung around to hear some shitty pub rock band belting out bad covers and talking about football for their between-song banter. I didn't last long, and hit the road some time in the middle of their set.

Livejournal, 5/8/2002

Friday we went to Abyss. Now, I went there once before since moving to Melbourne and swore I would never darken their door again. I was persuaded to break this boycott since The Baroness & Love Lies Bleeding were playing there, and it seems to me that they don't play live very often at all.

Last Wednesday I went to The Laundry to see Ikon and The Redresser. This gig was truly a triumph of non-publicity - the only clue that it was on was a small bundle of flyers at Heresy the Saturday before. So there were five of us (myself, andricongirl, Stranger & Elaine and Daniel from Sydney) up the front watching.. and a few people hanging around the back of the bar.. and a couple of guys doing sound and stuff.. and that was about it. One of the smallest crowds I've ever seen for a gig. Which was a damn shame, because this was Ikon's final warmup before they go to Germany to play M'era Luna 2002, and also The Redresser were showing off a new set, and even a new look! Anthony's hair was floppy, and Corporate Slut David was wearing a suit instead of red liquid latex.

Both bands were in good form. Ikon have about half a set worth of new songs now, good stuff too so I'm looking forward to their next album. Good sound, too, both bands sounding super guitar-y. Everyone who missed this gig is a sucker.

Livejournal, 5/8/2002

Chris surrendered the stage to Douglas P at the end of Ikon's set, and he played "Fall Apart" with Ikon (since they covered it previously and often play it live), and then "All Pigs Must Die" and "Tick Tock" by himself.

Afterwards I was talking to Dino (Ikon's bass player) when their drummer came over.

It was most amusing, especially since Fall Apart only goes for about a minute and a half normally. :-)

But this was an amazing triumph, huge praise to Slaveangel & Jarod & MissAlex (hope I didn't miss anyone involved in the organising!) for putting on something so special!! I just hope there were more Death In June fans there who were as excited as I was..

aus.culture.gothic post, 30/6/2003

9-Mar-2002 - Armageddon 2002: Azrael, American Eagle Squadron, Immaculata, Resurrection Eve, The Redresser, Bride Of The Atom, Tankt, Snog @ The Corner Hotel

(Azrael) Unintentionally hilarious nu-metal. One track was particularly poignant in it's "I hate my parents 'cos they grounded me for not doing my homework" attitude.

(A.E.S.) So did they have any originals? I spotted 6 covers and some of the others sounded familiar. They were good fun. And good sports about the fact that it was 6:30 and everyone was standing about 50 feet back from the stage drinking beer.

(Immaculata) I couldn't really be having this. Too synthpop for me. Like I said to a few people at the time, they should go to England - they sound like the sort of stuff people dig there, and look a lot better. :-) Luckily I could sense a couple of tongues firmly lodged in cheeks - at first, I thought they might have been serious, and my brain was screaming "Bad Goth Poetry! Bad Goth Poetry!".

(Resurrection Eve) Heh, the face of a young Billy Corgan with the moves of Gary Numan. I thought they were OK, but not gripping. I only heard the guitar on a couple of songs, I don't know if it was a bad mix or if they actually wanted it to be that way. The last couple of songs came to life a lot better though.

(The Redresser) Best band of the night, for sure. Although I'm biased since they were the band that I was familiar with that led me to the gig.. Large quantities of rock'n'roll in a small, small space. Excellent!

(Bride of the Atom) Second-best. Great noise, with seven people hard at it. I particularly liked the way there seemed to be a little farting noise from the keyboard whenever there was a gap in the sound. Nice tatt on the singer, too. I thought Mr.Thing was going to be run over by the trashcan at one point..

(Snog) I saw them about 10 years ago. I didn't enjoy it, not even a little bit, and nothing in the past 10 years has given me any desire to give them another chance. So I had no particular regrets about not sticking around.

aus.culture.gothic post, 10/3/2002

21-Sep-2001 - Jim's Super Stereo World, Abdoujaparov, Who's The Daddy Now? @ Astoria

15-Jul-2001 - D.U.S.T., Leisurehive, Sleeping Pictures, Womb @ The Verge, Camden

(Womb) I was thinking Seventeen Seconds/Faith era Cure.. can't clearly remember Carnage Visors but wasn't it all instrumental? I mostly liked Womb's sound (particularly the fine bass sound, although the drum machine sounded pretty flat) but thought the songs were only so-so.. but then, a couple of friends of mine thought they were the best band of the night, so opinions are mixed there.

(Sleeping Pictures) Damn, I'm not seeing much complimentary said about Sleeping Pictures, to which I say "bah!", they were for me clearly the best band of the night, and indeed one of the more interesting bands I've had the fortune to come across for quite a while. I thought they had a feel like what we used to call "swampy" in Australia.. like The Wreckery or something. "Angsty blues-rock". With some amazing noises being coaxed out of the guitar by the man in the facemask sitting on the milk crates.

I'll certainly be along if I see they're playing a gig.. and was most disappointed that they didn't have a CD to sell me. But their singer said they hoped to have something released soon.

(Leisurehive) Indeed. I liked them very much too, and luckily they did have a CD for me to buy, although the guy selling them had gone home before the end of the night and I had to get their singer to dig one out for me. :-) I really dug the electric violin, I was actually struck by how much the sound of it reminded me of what a lot of bands do electronically.. but it was just so much cooler seeing it actually being produced by someone playing an instrument.

(D.U.S.T.) The only band of the night that I'd seen before (when they played with Inkubus Sukkubus & The Faces Of Sarah a few months back). So when I arrived and was paying, I said I was here to see D.U.S.T. (I guess this means they get paid and nobody else does?) ;-)

Bought a CD and had a quick chat to Naamah before they played. When I confessed that my accent was Australian, she asked if I was H*ydn.. well, no, he's one of the other 18 million Australians. :-) But he _had_ been at that previous D.U.S.T. gig, so a fair question. :-)

Well, given that a few people have grumbled about the lateness of the night and resulting public transport woes, I must say that the room was sadly less full for D.U.S.T. than it had been earlier in the night. But all and sundry appeared to be enjoying themselves, myself included. I hope D.U.S.T. are getting some club play, they deserve it and their music would fit the dancefloor very well, I think. The highlight for me was the cover of "White Rabbit" - top notch.

So yeah, that was my night out. Very happy indeed, although I _did_ miss the last tube home, and had to do the multiple night buses thing to get back to Balham.. Monday morning was grim. But well worth it to see 4 bands ranging from pretty good to really excellent.

uk.people.gothic post, 17/7/2001

24-Jun-2001 - Dream Disciples, Emma Conquest, Psychophile @ The Camden Underworld

27-May-2001 - Gotham 2001: Inkubus Sukkubus, Star Industry, This Burning Effigy, Killing Miranda, House Of Usher, Two Witches, Squid, Descendants Of Cain @ LA2

27-Apr-2001 - The Faces Of Sarah, Je$us Loves Amerika, Last Days, Sieze @ Whitby band comp

31-Mar-2001 - Inkubus Sukkubus, The Faces Of Sarah, D.U.S.T. @ Camden Underworld

early 2000 - Big Day Out 2000: Primal Scream, Joe Strummer, Atari Teenage Riot, Nine Inch Nails, Gerling, Jebediah, Spiderbait + others

13-Jun-1999 - Tibetan Freedom Concert: Regurgitator, Spiderbait, Jebediah, Celibate Rifles, Trans Am, Bis + others @ Sydney Showgrounds

26-Jan-1994 - Big Day Out 1994: The Ramones, Björk, The Breeders, Severed Heads, Itch-E & Scratch-E, Boxcar, Vision 4/5, Southend, The Lab + others

If I could go back in time and revisit any of the gigs I've been to, I think I'd choose this one. Not because it was the best gig I've ever seen, but because maybe it could have been.. but I didn't really know Siouxsie's stuff well enough at the time. To be honest, I don't remember much about it. I remember the Enmore was totally packed to the rafters with goths. I remember Siouxsie was looking just great for a 36 year old. But I don't remember the music.

In fact, my most vivid memory of the gig is the bus I caught afterwards. It seems that death metal band Bolt Thrower had played somewhere nearby that night, and the fans from the two gigs got to mingle on the bus. The front of the bus was a sea of purest black, and the back was awash with denim and long hair. Needless to say, there wasn't too much common ground between the two tribes..

8/5/2003

Itch-E & Scratch-E were, to be honest, fucked. It was their first ever live show, and you could tell. They only played 4 songs, lasting 20 minutes. I got more into the DJ than their set. But The Lab were great!! Front row, again, this time I was directly in front of the swoonsome Yolanda. I can't believe how many gigs I get absolutely the best spot in the house for, it's just so damn easy. Anyway, this gig made The Lab the most-seen-by-me band in the world, at 3 live shows, and with the quality of those shows, you can bet that next time they take the stage, I'll be there again.

diary, 24/11/1992

This was perhaps the most furious dancin' gig I've ever been too. I was with Maff and Russ, front row of course (I was directly in front of lead singer Dave Smith). It was fast, it was loud, it was raucous, the crowd were in a frenzy and none more frenzied than us three.

diary, 24/11/1992

Well, let me say this - there was absolutely nothing about the band's performance that I can fault even slightly. They were magnificent, they played for 2½ hours or so, all the hits, a few obscure oldies to keep the true fans (like me) happy.. and to top it off, the most amazing version of A Forest imaginable. So, you may say, this was the best concert I'd ever been to eh? Well, no. The Entertainment Centre sucks, I can't put it any more bluntly than that. I hate the place. Our seats were waaaay back, miles from the stage, even with my glasses on I couldn't really make out what was happening on the stage. So I was in the fairly ludicrous position of watching a whole concert without looking at the stage, concentrating instead on the video screens overhead. Ah well.

diary, 24/11/1992

Weddings Parties Anything, a band I have always disliked. An attitude which was changed somewhat on this night. They were very powerful live. The crowd was excited, and so naturally I got drawn along into the excitement. It was good. Billy played much the same as at the State, but the reaction was so different down in the Selina's mosh-pit. It was so wild in some of the faster numbers that he had to warn the crowd to go easy in case someone got squashed. Unfortunately I wasn't too near the front, but it was still a slammin' performance.

diary, 17/8/1992

Billy? Well he was great, truly a man who has mastered the live performance. Certainly a change from my last 3 all-techno gigs. He really did well, with shifts of pace between playing solo with his guitar some songs, accompanied only by a keyboard on others, and with the full band (2 guitars, bass, drums, keyboard) on still others. Plus his tween-song banter was a wicked mix of humour and politics. An utterly excellent evening.

diary, 17/8/1992

The Lab, a wicked mob whose keyboardist Paul Mac plays with Severed Heads on their live shows. They were good. Really good. But the crowd just wasn't into it, it was too early. The Gunners themselves were of course excellent. They had a couple of minor technical problems, and to my disappointment they only played 2 songs off their first album, but they played the entirety of Like Stars In My Hands, and played it well.

diary, 17/8/1992

..the Heads played a pretty similar set to that at Technopop Live last November. But there was one essential difference. At TPL, I was a few metres back from the stage. At this gig (entitled "Robot Dreams") I was leaning against it. Yes, front row, dead centre, Tom's keyboard almost close enough to touch. Truly, this was perhaps the finest show of my life.

diary, 17/8/1992

30-Nov-1991 - Technopop Live: Severed Heads, Boxcar, Single Gun Theory @ The Phoenician Club

The Techno Pop Live concert was every bit as good as I expected.. the DJ (Robert Racic) was pretty pathetic, and played for much too long in between acts. Single Gun Theory were OK, pretty groovy, but not fast enough to be danceable. Boxcar suffered no such problem...they play amazingly good dance music. And Severed Heads? Well, it was one of the wildest things I've ever been involved in! We were near the front (a couple of metres from the stage), and of course I've never been at a concert with so many friends. The dancing was wild, especially in Dead Eyes Opened, which Ian decided was the cue for some slamming. Absolutely crazy.

diary, 11/12/1991

January 1991? - The Ramones, The Hard-Ons, The New Christs @ The Hordern Pavilion

The concert was unbelievably BRILLIANT!!!!! First up there was the support act, Louis Tillett [and his band], who were really good, and incredibly loud. We were in the 4th row from the stage for this. Then when they finished, everyone charged forward and we got a spot about 8 feet (!) from the stage for the main act. They played all my favourites in a set of about 2 hours, including 2 encores. The songs that came out best were City Of Refuge, From Her To Eternity and Tupelo (the final song). My only complaint is that Deanna and The Witness Song were played too early in the set before everyone really got into it, and that the Seeds were quieter than the support, although this might have been because we were between the speakers, not in front of them.

The concert was last night and it was brilliant!!! I cheered, sung, shouted, clapped and danced until I was hoarse and my fingers were so swollen I couldn't clench my fists. The show went for nearly 3 hours, no support band, just Simple Minds.

diary, 26/11/1989