The Descendents, The Bouncing Souls, Bodyjar , The Disables.
Eaton Hills Convention Centre. Wednesday, 6th Feb 2013.
By Sam Vinall.
After seeing what I saw at the gig, there’s not even the tiniest question of
whether it was worth the two hour drive from the Goldy, the 80 bucks I still
owe my sister, and of course the drive back home after the show. When
there’s a line up this awesome, it’s just an automatic yes. No thinking about
other things in your life. You just say yes and get a ticket within the next 15
minutes.
I only found out that Frenzal Rhomb had to pull the pin on the show a couple
of hours before we started driving. They would have been a great addition, but
I still think the line-up had enough muscle to be excellent without them (that
being said, I still love the band, and they always put on a hell of a show).
The fact that it took longer to get to the venue coupled with the fact that the
show started relatively early.., we missed opening band, The Disables. This
was a bit disappointing because they’re a band I’ve seen play in much smaller
venues and it would have been great to see them on such a huge stage to see
how they’d fare. All reports were good, both from the people I actually asked
and the number of people I saw wearing their merch.
I was relieved that we didn’t miss any of Bodyjar’s set. They’ve been a band
I’ve seen regularly since the mid 90’s. I’ve never seen play an average show.
If they play, they’re there to show you what they’ve got. Quite akin to stages
similar in size to the one at Eaton Hills, they smashed their way through
a blistering set of new and old material. Not a note out of place. I should
probably mention that they’re all ridiculously huge Descendents fans, so I’m
sure they6 would have been a tad nervous playing with their heroes. I think
that fact was lost on a lot of punters, as I was, as lots of punters thought they
had broken up. Theoretically this may have been true, but not when they got
offered to support The Descendents. I was really losing my shit when Bodyjar
were playing. I lost half my voice, had my fists pumping the air and was second
row from the front. They played some really early material like ‘Glossy Books’
and ‘Do Not Do’, as well as ‘Lights Out’, which I believe was their last radio
single ahich showed a darker and more mature side, incorporating some
cool syncopation. One step in the evolution of Bodyjar that you don’t hear
too much about, is Ross Hertherington’s (the original drummer) replacement
Shane Wakker. He’s made some changes to Ross’s already brilliantly crafted
beats which I always look forward to hearing live.
Next up were The Bouncing Souls. I don’t understand why, but I seemed to
be the only one who wasn’t blown away by them. I stayed on the fringes of
the crowd for most of their set, mainly because I was worn out from watching
Bodyjar. From my vantage, they looked very unenthusiastic. My main issue
was with the vocalist. His stage presence was baffling. He didn’t have a guitar,
but he hardly moved. He also both appeared to be, and sounded like he was
singing with a voice in which he had no confidence. To me, he looked lost on
devoid of passion. Their songs, which I admittedly wasn’t familiar with blended
into one derivative simple chord progression in my mind. I stick to my opinion,
that’s how I saw them.
Not one other person agreed with me. Everybody else I spoke to and the
voices I was listening to (not only the ones in my head) were all saying how
great they were. And describing what I saw as the vocalist being lost on stage,
as him owning the stage and looking fucking cool as hell. I’ve been wrong
before. Lucky I don’t have to be right. Let’s just say that I believe I was the only
person in the place to hold the opinion that they didn’t rule.
The Descendents then played and absolutely ripped the entire place apart for
over an hour. That’s what it boils down to. But it was in all seriousness one
of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. They’ve been together
for over 30 year’s. Sometimes this means the band get a bit too cool, start
releasing crap albums and just displaying signs that they’ve become jaded
psuedo rock stars. Not The Descendents. One thing I’ll admit is they’re
older, which makes me feel young, so it’s a good thing. Their show was so
entertaining, a lot of the time I was just standing there smiling and stunned.
I’m a big fan of the Descendents, but I’m not going to pretend I knew even half
of their set list. I didn’t matter. They were having so much fun playing to the
crowd, enjoyment was inevitable. Hassling each with knowing glances, they
loved it.
Early in the set a full cup of beer landed on Milo’s head and the drum kit.
Nothing was even said about it. That’s punk rock I guess… Some drunk
chick got up on stage and was literally hanging off Milo to stay upright. I
could see security ready to direct her off the stage, but Milo again took
it in his stride. He offered her the microphone but she had no clue of the
lyrics, again it wast it was all cool. The Descendents wanted to play the
best set they could, and leave with everybody there, including themselves
feeling awesome. With intense jagged little numbers like ‘Coffee Mug’, ‘I
Like Food’ and ‘Weinerschnitzel’, to ultra melodic numbers like; ‘When I
Get Old’, ‘Everything Sucks’ and ‘Rotting Out’. My favourites for the night
would have to be ‘Thankyou’, ‘Nothing With You’ and ‘Weinerschnitzel’. But
for crowd participation points and laughing at the band, with Milo using a
homemade list of Commandments, ‘All-O-Gistics’ was brilliant.
Hilarious underprepared onstage theatrics and the crowd willingness to join in at every
possible juncture. That perhaps sums up what made the show so special. The
band did not make an error, they loved being up there, nothing fazed them,
you could see band members sneaking knowing glances at each other and
laughing. Also involving and feeding off the audiences vibes the whole night.
If you did not attend you may think I’m overstating things. But for those who
were there to witness it. You know I’m telling the truth.