Review: Greg Phillips. Photos: Jason Rosewarne.
In the words of the late great Billy Thorpe, ‘It’s Almost Summer and I can almost feel that sweet sunshine’. But more than just a change of weather, there’s something happening in Melbourne at the moment with the live music scene resembling it’s halcyon days of decades ago. It’s Friday night and Cold Chisel are playing to a sold out audience at night one of two at the Myer Music Bowl, despite already having played several sold out Victorian gigs recently. Nineties faves Custard and The Fauves are plugging new material at The Prince, Chet Faker is doing his thing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Bob Evans is in Belgrave, Baker Boy + Tasman Keith + Bart Willoughby + Deline Briscoe are playing a special Blaktivism show at Hamer Hall, Miss Kaninna is at Howler, there are dozens of bands playing smaller clubs and the Queenscliff Music Festival is kicking off today too. Adding to the buzz in a major way is the Victorian government funded Always Live project, delivering a 17 day feast of music events statewide. Post-covid, live music is back in a huge way and the appreciative punters are coming to shows in droves.
On this night Australian Musician has chosen to attend Hoodoo Gurus at the recently refurbished grand old dame, the Palais Theatre where the band is performing their 1984 album Stoneage Romeos in full, celebrating 40 year since its release. Stoneage Romeos reached #29 on the Australian Album Chart and the album went on to win Best Debut Album at the 1984 Countdown Awards. It features many hits that the band still include in their regular set.
The downside of such an active town on a gloriously warm night is that the significant increase in traffic and scarce parking caused us to miss support act Dallas Crane’s set but were told that they had rocked the house. Dallas Crane have always been a powerful workhorse and we were disappointed to have missed Dave Larkin and the boys. At least our intrepid photographer Jason Rosewarne managed to snap a few pics of the band.
Hoodoo’s stage backdrop was impressive, a dramatic blue 3D set featuring flying prehistoric Pterodactyls, mimicking the theme of the Stoneage Romeos album cover art. Nick Reith’s tribal drums ushered in the band as they kicked into track one, ‘(Let’s All) Turn On’. The fabulous ‘I Want You Back’ followed and the crowd had already risen to their feet. Frontman Dave Faulkner suggested that there would be no prohibitive rules tonight, telling people to come down the front and dance in the aisles. His only plea was that the contract was a two way street … the band would deliver if the audience gave back enthusiastically too. Surprisingly, Dave Faulkner also tells us that after forty years, this is the first time the Gurus have ever played The Palais.
‘Arthur’ spotlighted bass player Rick Grossman’s deep bottom end but also exposed the muddy sound mix overall. While the rhythm section was coming through loud and clear, the mids including guitars and vocals just blended into each other with no separation. At one point in the night I saw Brad Shepherd raise a harmonica to his lips but I couldn’t hear a thing amid the din. Certainly in row H, seat 23 the frequencies were at times annoying. As I found out post-show, many others on social media complained about the sound too. I don’t know whether the issue was entirely down to a poor mix or that The Palais acoustics are just not suited to loud rock n roll, I’d had similar experiences there before with louder rock bands.
Despite the sonic imperfections, the crowd were intent on having good time and totally got into the spirit of the evening. They’d paid their money and were determined to enjoy themselves. The band, as always put their heart and soul into the performance and never fail to provide the goods. ’My Girl’, ‘Zanzibar, ‘Leilani’ and ’Tojo, in succession were warmly received. ‘I Was A Kamikaze Pilot’ brought the Stoneage Romeos section for the night to an end, allowing the band to dig deep into their catalogue. Rather than going straight for the jugular and heading into hit territory, The Gurus gave us a couple of tunes from the more recent Chariot of Gods album and ‘Party Machine’, a fan request
There’s something to be said for the traditional four piece rock band featuring drum, bass, lead and rhythm guitars. When firing on all cylinders, there’s nothing like witnessing a top notch foursome in action and Hoodoo Gurus are one of the best. When the hits came, they came thick and fast. ‘Come Anytime’, ‘The Right Time’. ‘Bittersweet’, ‘Miss Freelove ’69, and ’1000 Miles Away’. True to our promise to Dave, we kept our end of the bargain, singing along vociferously and almost drowning out the band, which was quite a feat considering the volume the band was playing at. A rocking’ rendition of the band’s “Theme song” ’Be My Guru’ ended the main set as the band exited for a short break to rehydrate.
Returning to the stage, the band launched into a spirited ’Axegrinder’, differing from their setlist at The Forum a couple of nights earlier. ‘What’s My Scene’, arguably the band’s biggest hit was up next and the crowd’s dancing bordered on manic. ‘Like Wow Wipeout’ wrapped up the evening in the best way possible, a perfect rock song, presented by one of Australia’s greatest bands, proving they’re more than just relevant, they’re in tip top shape. It’s just a shame that on such a special celebratory occasion, punters had to endure such poor sound quality.
