TISM – SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL – MELBOURNE

Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David Harris

TISM fans were out in droves around Melbourne’s CBD heading to the iconic Sidney Myer Music Bowl to see a band which, before this tour hadn’t headlined for two decades. Mum calls me up on the way to the Bowl and says, “What bands are you seeing today?” I said, “TISM.” Mum says, “That’s an unusual name,” and when I told her it’s an acronym for This Is Serious Mum she replied: “That’s a stupid name for a band!” I laughed and went on to tell Mum that TISM all wear face masks and nobody knows who they are. Mum replied “You see some weird bands,” and I thought it was best to keep the conversation short and not elaborate about TISM song lyrics or tell mum that Machine Gun Felatio were one of the supports (for obvious reasons). The call ended and I thought to myself, TISM would crack up if they were listening in on this call. That’s what I love about music, the diversity and creativity that artists offer and today’s line-up certainly was a mixed bag of Australian bands and music.

THE MAVIS’S
The Mavis’s are a Melbourne band formed in 1987 by brother (Matt) and sister (Beki) from Ballarat, Victoria. Today for this special event, the band were outfitted in very colourful (almost fluoro) outfits. Their music is synth driven, alt pop which has a feel-good vibe and had the crowd singing and dancing along from the get go. Surprisingly they only did a short set of 6-songs. The intro was BOX and then LEVER and THUNDER. Jane Gazzo (Music radio & TV presenter, music journo, artist and author) joined them on stage for backing vocals on HEAVEN. The harmonious and catchy CRY had the girls next to us singing along, arm in arm. Their last song NAUGHTY BOY, a much heavier tune highlighted Beki’s vocal versatility.

BEN LEE
Ben Lee, who has spent a significant time in LA, is either on an extended visit back home or has relocated. He’s originally from Sydney, NSW and began his music career in 1993 at the ripe young age of just 14. Ben has been performing solo since he was 17 and has had a stellar solo career releasing 11 studio albums to date. I’ve never seen Ben Lee perform and I was blown away with just how good he is live. Ben also played a short set of 6-songs, but thankfully played all our favourites. CIGARETTES WILL KILL YOU; INTO THE DARK; SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE (with a psychedelic intro); LOVE ME LIKE THE WORLD IS ENDING; POSITIVE ENERGY and crowd-favourite and sing-a-long CATCH MY DISEASE.

ESKIMO JOE
Eskimo Joe formed in 1997 and are from Fremantle, WA. I’ve followed this band right from the beginning and have seen them at least 10 times now. They always deliver a wonderful show and charismatic lead singer and bass guitarist, Kav Temperley looks the part with his slicked rock ’n’ roll (Elvis) hair style and sharp-dressed clothes. Kav delivers clear and distinctive vocals and is joined by Stuart MacLeod (lead guitar/backing vocals) and Joel Quartermain (drums/guitar/backing vocals). Jane Gazzo introduced the band and initially just the 3 of them commenced their set with SWEATER from their 1998 EP of the same name. Joel then went from playing drums to guitar and they were joined on stage by long-serving touring drummer, Paul Keenan and keyboardist, Timothy Nelson. Next were several songs from the BLACK FINGERNAILS, RED WINE (2008) album including the title song along with SARAH and NEW YORK. This was followed by OLDER THAN YOU and FROM THE SEA from A Song Is A City (2004). They performed FOREIGN LAND from Ishalla (2009). Kav then asked the crowd if it was OK for them to sing a new song which led into THE FIRST TIME. Crowd favourite LOVE IS A DRUG from Ghosts of the Past (2011) put a smile on many dials in the crowd. The 10-song set was a good taste of their stellar career to date.

MACHINE GUN FELATIO
Machine Gun Felatio (MGF) formed in 1997 and are from Sydney, NSW. They are an alternative 7-piece rock band that are well known for their flamboyant, provocative on-stage antics and humorous, controversial lyrics. It is like an absurd burlesque cabaret show filled with incredibly talented musicians, some dressed in scandalous outfits (keyboardist pants with the arse cut out of them) or wearing not much of anything (nipple tassels), nun and nurse outfits and the guitarist in his lit up rave pants and various hats (that he kept swapping and throwing out into the crowd). A burlesque performer/dancer joined them on stage twirling hula hoops and performing other acts throughout the show keeping the audience entertained. There was so much going on you didn’t know where to look. The crowd absolutely loved them including me. Incredibly entertaining would be an understatement. They played a strong 14-song set with all of the crowd favourites that created a carnival-type atmosphere, with everyone laughing and dancing along to songs such as: THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS IS GIVING ME NIGHTMARES; ROLLERCOASTER; MY EX-GIRLFRIEND’S BOYFRIEND; LINE OF SILVER and the sing-a-long PUSSYTOWN. Overall, considering they haven’t played for 19-years, their music remains current and captivating, showcasing just how good this band is. Sadly they announced this is their final show ever as a band.

TISM
TISM (THIS IS SERIOUS MUM) are well-known for their anonymity by wearing face masks, hence making the members unknown! They formed in 1982 and are an outrageously fun, 7-piece alternative rock band from Melbourne. This legendary Aussie band head-lined tonight’s show with their ‘DEATH TO ART’ Tour and presented an entertaining, theatrical show, full of hilarious stage antics. All fully dressed in ‘red’, consisting of red jumpsuit, cape, and masks with a rooster-mohawk headpieces on top. These Aussie larrikins jumped and danced about the stage in a chaotic manner, stage-dived into the audience, crowd-surfed and had the attendees in the palms of their hands. The crowd were in complete hysterics as they danced and sang along to their quirky anthems. The stage backdrop was a 3-tier scaffolding with multiple artists individually painting giant canvases, which were later thrown out into the crowd at the end of the show creating a frenzy amongst fans who tore them up and flung them about. The crowd booed TISM in between songs which was absolutely hilarious and which TISM embraced. Throughout the show one of the members held up placards announcing the upcoming song. They played a 23-song set and like MGF, the show was full of outrageous song lyrics and with so much going on it was hard to know what to focus on. One after another, the songs poured out with some of the crowd favourites tonight being – I’LL HAVE YA; WHATAREYA; SATURDAY NIGHT PALSY; GREG! THE STOP SIGN!; (HE’LL NEVER BE AN) OL’ MAN RIVER (the River Phoenix song); I’M INTERESTED IN APATHY; ROOT; I DRIVE A TRUCK. During 70’s FOOTBALL they handballed a footy and kicked it out into the crowd. TISM even had a 3-piece brass section (sax, trombone and trumpet) join them during some of the tunes and one TISM member even played the banjo. TISM need to be seen to be believed in order to gain a true understanding of what their live shows are about.

I laughed as I saw fans leaving the show covered in paint from the canvases that had been thrown out into the crowd. They wore it as a badge of honour and were grinning from ear to ear with joy from what they had just experienced. A memorable and entertaining evening indeed.

TISM SETLIST: