Best Gigs of 2010

1. Faith No More – Festival Hall

Faith No More are one my favourite bands from the 90’s and although this was my 3rd time seeing them, the anticipation was huge. After consuming several beers at a nearby pub, some like minded friends and I arrived in good spirits to see a great support slot from Eagles of Death Metal. Jessie Hughes was rocking the stage like he was the headliner and got the crowd pumped for the main event playing all their hits including “I Only Want You”, “Cherry Cola” , “Wannabe in LA” and my favourite “I Want You So Hard”. The same can’t be said by the 2nd support act in the form of “comedian” Neil Hamburger. He spent 20 minutes (felt like a lot longer) telling bad jokes and generally angering the crowd who were growing more impatient by the minute.
Luckily after he left the stage, the main attraction wasted little time getting on stage to a chorus of applause, opening with the instrumental "Midnight Cowboy". From there we were treated to a cavalcade of the best songs of the 90’s and you would never know they spent the last decade on hiatus. They sounded as good if not better than they did when I saw them last back in 1999. Highlights from the main set included “Midlife Crisis”, “Last Cup of Sorrow” and “Ricochet”, as well the covers ‘Easy” and “I Started a Joke”. Mike Patton provided plenty of on stage banter between songs and jumping around the stage frantically, even jumping into the crowd during “Just a Man” to finish the Main Set. The band came back for 2 encores, starting the encore with “Edge of the World” and finishing the concert with a great version of “Stripsearch”. Although this was the 2nd concert, it was the first on sale and was clearly full of massive FNM fans who sold the event out in about 10 mins. We were all treated to a gig full of hits and rarities and one that will not soon be forgotten.

Setlist: Midnight Cowboy / The Real Thing / Land of Sunshine / Caffeine / Evidence / The Gentle Art of Making Enemies / Last Cup of Sorrow / Ricochet / Easy / Midlife Crisis / Epic / I Started a Joke / A Small Victory / Surprise! You're Dead! / Ashes to Ashes / Just a Man
Encore: Edge of the World / Mark Bowen Encore 2: Switch (Cover) / Stripsearch

2. The Bon Scotts – Barwon Club, Geelong

The reasons this was my favourite local gig of the year was because it was unexpected, spur of the moment and reminded me why I love music. My original plan for this night in November was to check out Regurgitator at the Bended Elbow but due to the fact I couldn’t find the venue, I ended up at the Barwon Club. I knew the Seabellies were playing at the Barwon Club and since I was in the mood for some live music I decided to check it out, after recently hearing them on Triple J. After paying $8 to get in, I caught the end of the 2nd support band of Chris Pickering and Catherine Britt. They sounded great and I had already gotten over the fact that was missing the band I set out to see that night.
After a small interval the stage was filled with 6 musicians including a cello and a piano accordion player. I was instantly curious about what I was about to hear, having not heard even a song by the Bon Scotts before. In fact I wasn’t even sure who the band was before they introduced themselves. Being a massive Bon Scott fan, I had noticed the name from time to time but had never seen them play. After hearing a couple songs I was hooked by their funky and original sound, reminding me of Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse at times but still unlike anything I’d heard before. My favourites from the set were “The Kids are Coming”, “We Can Cause Such a Fuss” and what has become one of my favourite tracks of the year “We Like War”. I learnt the track names after buying the CD after the gig which has been on high rotation ever since. The Seabellies also played a good set after this, but the Bon Scotts were the clear stars of the night. As mentioned earlier in the review, this gig reminded me how much I love live music, especially when it’s an unknown band who wins you over. This was a perfect example of this and I have since seen them play another fantastic gig at the Builders Arms in Fitzroy during their December residency. I am looking forward to their afternoon set at The St Kilda Festival in February.

3. Queenscliff Music Festival
This was my first time at QMF but it will certainly not be the last. After scoring a last minute ticket from my friend Scanlan the night before, I scanned the schedule and got excited about some of the acts I’d be treated to. Little did I know, the acts I had not yet heard of would be providing some of the weekends highlights.
After arriving at Queenscliff at 11, we picked up a program and organised a rough timetable. First up was a great set by Gareth Liddiard from The Drones with a horrendous downpour of rain in the background. The rain was a constant throughout the festival but didn’t dampen the spirits of those that showed up, it may have deterred some from coming though as the numbers seemed a little low, especially on Saturday. Gareth Liddiard’s set was great, mixing some tracks from the recent solo album Strange Tourist including "Strange Tourist" and "Highplains Mailman" with various tracks from the Drones catalogue. I particularly enjoyed hearing the stripped back versions of “Shark Fin Blues”, “I Don’t Ever Want to Change” and “Jezabel”.

One of the artists who I managed to see play two great and different sets on Saturday was Mr Percival. I had not heard him before but was urged to go along by Scanlan and did not regret it. It’s hard to describe his style (see clip below) but he basically uses his voice via an octave loop pedal to create a wall of sound that gradually builds til it sounds like he has a full band behind him and then he sings over the top of it. He plays a combination of originals and covers including “Stand By Me”, “Lean On Me” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. During his evening set at the festival grounds he played a cover of “Down Under” right after Colin Hay’s set which was a ballsy move but it worked. The highlight of the evening set was an original called “That’s What Donny Said” during which he had the whole crowd singing the chorus. His cover of “Electric Avenue” had the crowd singing heartily and it was a sea of smiling faces. Although it’s hard to describe how and why Mr Percival is so good, I do strongly recommend seeing him live if you get the chance, I can guarantee it will be a feel-good experience.

Dan Kelly played a mid afternoon set that was enjoyed by a large crowd, focusing mostly on the his latest album Dan Kelly’s Dream. Highlights included “Hold On, I’m Coming”, “The Decommissioner”, “Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam” and a great cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U” played on the ukulele.
After catching the end of John Williamson, we headed to The Bedroom Philosopher for an enjoyable set of songs and stand up. Although the set was cut short due to John W running late, everyone there (myself included) laughed riotously, especially Triple J favourite “Northcote (So Hungover)”. Kaki King was next up on the main stage and showed off her virtuoso guitar playing in between incoherent stage banter. When she let the music do the talking though, using a unique finger tapping style of guitar playing, it worked well.

Colin Hay was the star of the festival, playing the Saturday night slot to a large but at times noisy crowd. Due to the noise, the usual story telling between songs is kept to a minimum for this set but luckily this was remedied on both of his sets on Sunday. All the classics were dusted off by this Australian legend (he’s Scottish and lives in America but we’ll claim him) but stripped down to the solo acoustic format, which is just how we like him. Newer tracks like “Are You Looking at me?” and “There’s Water Over You” sit nicely alongside the classics “Who Can It Be Now?”, “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You”, “Beautiful World”, “Down Under” (which invokes the greatest sing along of the day) and my favourite “Overkill”. It was a great set but I enjoyed the Sunday afternoon set more as he told a few stories alongside the songs which had the whole crowd laughing hysterically. I also attended his Sunday morning Songwriters Q & A which was great as he answered questions from the crowd in between playing some of his classics. Included in this set was another fave of mine “Waiting for my Real Life to Begin”. I even managed to shake his hand after the session and thank him for being so awesome.

Mark Seymour is another legend of the Australian music scene, although it was only during the Hunters and Collectors songs that my interest was held. It’s not easy to follow Colin Hay, but he did play quite a few songs that had the crowd singing along including “Holy Grail”, “True Tears of Joy” and the classic “Throw Your Arms Around Me”.

Claude Hay was up next and played the most enjoyable set of the day for me. Like Mr Percival, he was unknown to me before the festival and used looping pedals to give his sound a full band feel. His equipment included a double guitar (Bass and Electric), a sitar, a bass and snare drum and a large arrangement of pedals. It has to be seen to be believed and even his recorded material does not give justice to how good he is live. Watching the songs build from a simple bass line and add drums, guitar and then sing and play guitar over the top is exciting to watch and during his short set I become an instant fan. I couldn’t resist watching him twice again on the Sunday, including a great set on the Queenscliff Blues Train. After having some bad luck earlier in the day with rain damaging his equipment, he remains upbeat and his acknowledgment of the crowd’s appreciation only makes us love him more. The highlight of the set is a sped up, almost unrecognisable version of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”. Don’t miss a chance to see this up and coming blues man play a live gig.

On the Sunday I saw repeat performances of Colin Hay, (the 3pm set was the best of the festival) The Bedroom Philosopher and Claude Hay twice. Replacing Washington at the last minute was Clare Bowditch and the New Slang. I had just recently heard the latest album Modern Day Addiction, and the more upbeat sound makes it her finest album to date in my opinion. There was a full band on stage and it was an upbeat performance featuring a large slice of the new album and some classics. Highlights included “Start a War”, “I Thought You Were God” and “Running” which featured one the band running around the crowd for the entire song and back in time to finish it off. Another great performance.

After this I joined the queue for the ride on the Queenscliff Blues Train. The train consists of four carriages, each containing a band, that travels for 20 mins and then stops to allow the punters to switch carriages and see a different band if they choose. It’s a great idea and both Claude Hay and Catherine Britt with Chris Pickering played great sets. I recently seen Catherine Britt and Chris Pickering play a support show at the Barwon Club and was impressed with Chris Pickering’s voice and guitar playing. Luke Foran also features in the band on bass, who is a great solo artist in his own right.

After Colin Hay’s great set which I couldn’t bring myself to leave until it was finshed, I headed along to catch the end of The Meanies. Turns out to be the right decision as they played the songs I knew last and I got to hear all the classics including “Ton of Bricks”, Gargantuan” and the 90’s anthem “10% Weird which was great. To finish the festival off we checked out Mick Thomas & the Sure Thing. He was quite good as well, especially “Fathers Day” and “Mondays Experts”. So that was my QMF experience, a great weekend was had by all and l look forward to it again this year.