Honesty can be a sticky wicket in Music Journalism. So here goes nothing… I have not ever been into Grinspoon or seen them live before.
Wait, wait!!! Before you peel your insides out and jump into a matrix-like backflip of disgust to throw your Nokia 6110 against the pub wall, I fit squarely in the ABC Recovery demographics of an Aus music obsessee from the 90s too; let me explain.
The volatile jet fuel and napalm sound of Grinspoon was inescapably everywhere in the golden years of mid to late 90’s, courtesy of the fresh sounds of triple j pipeline and mastery of Mr. Kingsmill. A varietal smorgasbord of Aus music, booming on the airwaves and mind of my youth. Grinspoon were at the top of this new wave Australiana, accompanied by Silverchair, and Powderfinger, all shaping a guitar-heavy national musical identity for future artists and simultaneously proving on the international scale we had more muscle to flex than just INXS and AC/DC. In that heady fog, I gravitated towards other sirens of a rich Aus music coastline in the 90s, like the geek punk delights of Regurgitator and the animalistic clatterings of Spiderbait.
So why the hell did I take this assignment? Three reasons;
- Support act, Ixaras is the best thing for Brisbane live music in their generation, and I vow to support that mission statement any way I can.
- An unyielding adoration of support act Press Club.
- Simple, I want to become a Grinner like you. I want to be a Champion.
Aus rock elite consider Grinspoon to be one of the greatest Australian acts of all time, lathering them in inspirational credits. I’ll intersect a few quotes here and there, with my end goal to share that G-Spoon craving by end of my first Grinners gig.
Over the past 4 weeks in Meanjin I’ve seen the supreme rock trinity of Australian female vocalists; Emmy Mack -RedHook, Zoe Catterall – The Buoys, and tonight Natalie Foster – Press Club.
In celebrating the above-mentioned live music feast, I was able to grab a quote from Zoe Catterall on the back of her recent Lustre Album national tour, complete with a Phil Jamieson on-stage cameo during the Sydney show. “What does Grinspoon mean to you?”
“Grinspoon to me is unadulterated joy! I always find myself with a sore face and legs from smiling ear to ear and jumping around with no worries in the world after watching them play…I’ve been lucky enough to sing with Phil, we sang ‘Just Ace’ together on the ‘Lustre’ tour. I look up to him heaps, so generous and such a lover of music, he’s the best” – Zoe Catterall – The Buoys
Ok Grinners. Let’s do this. I want to be in you.
I have a soft spot for the Tivoli, and it seems so did the Grinner Army, who were reliving flashbacks from the last Grinspoon show here in 2017. Full credit to the staff and event managers for establishing an area for persons with decreased mobility inside – that is a massive tick in my book.
Wandering inside to the secret bar (cans service only, keep your eyes peeled for it) I run into the tiny frame of Ixaris, radiating her jumbo positive aura. She gives me a hug while confessing to a few pre-show nerves, I blabber about how proud we are of her, and reaffirm after the gig at the zoo in its closing shows she will kill it tonight!
Ixaras Dorizac is a teen musical apostle, with the gravitas to upstage artists twice her age, combined with the tenacity in promoting all-ages music events in Brisbane via her record label and promotion company Anti-Dismal from the age of 14. Her efforts are just shy of biblical. Please familiarise yourself and support her endeavours to make music accessible for all – HERE!
Any nerves were well abandoned at stage left with the youthful 4-piece, Ixaras dominating in artful flare and precision. An 8-song set was delivered with gusto, vigour and pace. The guitarist stomping on his guitar pedal like an out-of-control campfire-prompting Ixaras’s powerful vocals. Punters in the front row turn to each other and mouth “WTAF!”. Salt and Lately exemplified Ixaras vocal durability, and the mix was on point.
Ixaras’s use of a dial-up telephone, reminiscence of the 90’s home phone (a suitable tie-in here) with an embedded distorted mic, for closing track What The Fuck!, yelling “What the fuck!” down the line, gave me hardcore 90’s flashbacks!
The attention of the now swelling crowd was grabbed by the balls, buttocks, and cleavage while Ixaras frantically paced the stage front. This teen indie group was winning over a predominantly X-Gen stronghold with a pre-defined musical palette ranging from Hard Rock to Grunge. It should have been a hard sell, instead it was executed dynamically with Punk vibes meeting artistic vision, it was sublime. I told you she’d kill it!
Now for some Press Club! I’ve complemented Nat in the past, stating her voice is so strong she doesn’t need a mic, to which she quipped, “You mean that in a good way right?… Ha-ha!” For those experiencing Press Club for the first time, you’ll see what I mean, it’s so invigorating to see them again!
Hey Nat “What does Grinspoon, and this tour mean to you?”
“Phil is the second most famous person I have in my phone. The fact that he and the band have invited us on this epic tour around Australia means the world to us, taking us to some places we wouldn’t be able to otherwise.” – Natalie Foster – Press Club
Nat bursts onto stage in the only way she knows – with ultra-high energy and repping a Bad//Dreems T-shirt. Laine MacRae presents as an Adonis with his ringlets draping his mystical white bass that exudes distinctive tones. Greg Rietwyk, suave as always on guitar, leading Frank to belt on in his running on the spot drumming style.
Frank and Nat’s timing was synchronised to the nano-second, both showing their A-game with Headwreck. I could still see Frank’s beaming smile, using it to a gauge how far back I was being ushered towards the mixing desk, as the determined Grinner Army pushed closer to the front barrier, this pleased me.
Suburbia is the goosebump-inducing track I was confident would win over this demographic. It has everything a good story should, an arousing intro; “….lately…” suspense, sweet emotion, totally drawing the listener in. When Nat hits that “I left my heart in the Suburb…” it has the vocal intensity of being a spawn of Whispering Jack himself. The story closes in a fusion of cavalcade drums. This is the track I’ve firsthand witnessed many a punter subscribe to Press Club from that moment on.
No Pressure and Separate Houses cementing the hypnotic effect of gaining new fans!
The Grinners take the stage! The main event was an impressive 20 song set list. Phil must be on the same life tonic as Paul Rudd, with aging in reverse physical appearance and youthful exuberance in stage presence. Phil donned white Jackie O glasses, a custom cropped nautical themed leather jacket, it was a rad look. A testament of his fitness was keeping the jacket on for the entire energetic set, with a “Free Palestine” support t-shirt visible underneath.
The set balanced the flash point ignition of aforementioned jet-fuel and napalm by concertinaing the hard and heavy songs between some of the more soothing tracks. Doing so preserved the crowd, and the structural integrity of the Tivoli.
The backdrop had a montage of Phil clowns, enlarged fists punching through house roofs, insect humanoids, and “we are unknown” emblazoned font behind them. This felt like a good place to start the set with the 2024 ‘whatever, whatever’ albums’ Unknown Pretenders. This song is three times better as a live track with taunting guitar riffs, I mean that as a total compliment to the live composition and performance. Phil sprayed plumes of amber fluid from his mouth, I thought he would breathe fire. After something new it was time for a flash back to 1998’s ‘Guide To Better Living’ with DCx3 wedged up to the dirty punk anthem Just Ace … gosh they sound like Violent Soho…
“In High School ‘Just Ace’ came on rage, it was so original it caught me straight away. I remember singing it with all my High School friends. I also remember singing it in the Tour van with Soho, along with ‘Champion’ and ‘Ready 1’. Crazy to think years later Phil would jump up on stage and sing a song with our band-Violent Soho. Grinspoon are iconic in Australian Music.” – Luke Henery – Violent Soho.
Thanks Luke, you gem! We love you and Soho forever! I’m pleased to say Ready 1, and Champion also made an appearance on the setlist tonight.
Never Say Never a new song that captures Phils’ description between albums as: “We were on a Gap year…a 12-year gap year,” while the crowd weren’t all over the lyrics, their bodies took over in dancing to it instead. I grinned again.
Nails dragging on a chalk board style guitar effect wailed from the man in a sharp hat – Pat Davern, with a drool-inducing breakdown for another newy- Nasty. This new stuff is fucking sick! Its’s literally going to be a …Hard Act To Follow!
Phil now embedded behind his guitar, and a guitar battle ensued between him and Pat. The fun police arrived to give Phil a slap on the wrist for spraying beer all over the stage! They should have seen Phil in his wild days, even I knew about that!
I was more concerned Joe Hansen’s juicy bass licks would fracture the plaster from the upper level during No Reason and Kristian Hopes breakneck beats on (ILYSM) (akin to Motorhead’s Ace Of Spades) was going to dislodge said plaster onto the sound desk behind me. This was possible, seeing as Phil was using a megaphone to sing into the mic (full props to the sound techs on the clarity for this trick).
Phil is one of the most gracious superstars I’ve seen with the reverence he showed support acts and the sound tech Gordo in between mic changes. The mic change enabled an acoustic duo Underground (Hell On Wheels) with Nat Foster that was simply beautiful. Hey Gordo… Nat still doesn’t need a mic!
Phil is loving this, he expresses adoration for the Tivoli, and then he blows the crowds head off with that signature Chemical Heart. A perfect marriage of symbol taps, underlying bass and inquisitive guitar, it’s the suspense to this song that creates a thick suspense “Can’t get Started, Chemical Heart, every time I get started, you pull me apart!”
I don’t like to reveal whole set lists, rather I’d prefer to give readers a sample, with the purpose to encourage you to buy a ticket to the other 40 Shows left on this broad reaching regional and capital city tour. Phil loves giving the goods, and It’s not up to me to take them away from him, although I will say he made us all feel like a… Champion. Gosh that hard driving push makes me think of the heavy guitar laden riffs of demigods – DZ Deathrays…
“Grinspoon was the soundtrack to my high school years, just ace, DCx3 and Champion all being part of our bands house party material after seeing it live at big day out. I’m lucky enough to have been able to tour with grinners many years ago and I think it really helped get DZ to the point where we are in Australia now. We learned a lot from them! It’s awesome to see them continuing to play live and write new music.” – Shane Parsons – DZ Deathrays.
Ooof! Cheers Shane, and yep… DZ Forever! Phil rightly deserves the honorary title of Australian Tourism Captain – he was encouraging the audience to charter a bus with him to the Toowoomba show for Saturday. Let’s not underestimate the level of dedication, planning and commitment for this gargantuan 43-show tour (mostly in regional towns). Grinspoon will be providing income revenue for live music venues and employees, exposure for local artists, while simultaneously creating core memories to a grateful Aus music fanbase. This makes me a Grinner 100%!
Confetti Cannons Boom! And spew out a thick deluge of red rain. And we are out!
