Melbourne, You Rock!

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One of the big anticipations that I had on coming to Melbourne was the amount of live acts that I may have the chance to see. I am a big music fan but always seemed to have had the disadvantage of living in places where concerts are few and far between. On one of my first days of wandering the streets of Melbourne I stumbled across a concert poster for one of my favourite bands Brian Jonestown Massacre. In the space of only a few days I had purchased my tickets and requested the time off work.

The first time I seen BJM was in Dublin. I went to see them out of curiosity due to the Dig! documentary that displays them in a chaotic, self destructive lighting. I remember liking the concert but felt like I went just to see if it was going to be the circus like on the documentary. I remember getting really drunk with Dave and Chopper and following the concert I had words with one of the guitarists (he started it). Since this I have listened to much more of BJM and consider myself a fan. So this time was all about the music and the bonus was it was almost the original line up.

So on a warm Saturday night I was standing in line noticing the age difference in crowd. I had them grouped into the fans (likely 25 to 45 in age) and the people who came to see the circus. I was there early and I was there sober. Tonight was about the music. They came on late, about 11 O'Clock. The 8 person band, a bottle of Jack Daniels, many beers and loads of big body Gibson guitars lined the stage. I won't get into the set list, but it consisted of all the songs I wanted to hear as they played most of their stuff from they 90's and early 2000's. They did get chaotic as they were some arguments on stage between band members, the lead singer walked off 4 times (maybe 5). Arguments over the set list, name calling, and one of the guys threatened to quit. It was just like the film Dig!. Musically these guys just rock, Their melodic solos, the 5 big body guitars adding layers of texture to each song. I was impressed I had misjudged the crowd as alot of the young hipsters were singing along with the band. Judgements are funny aren't they? I left with my ears ringing very satisfied with what I had seen and heard. And the urge to go by a big body electric and start a band.

So there is a band called Clutch that my best friend Eric introduced me to on a Canadian winter road trip. So on a tram ride, a few weeks back, from St Kilda I was gazing out the window, my eye caught a sign with a list of upcoming performances. Because we were in movement I could only read a few names. The words Clutch Feb 25th, was all that I read. I asked for the time off work but neglected to buy tickets. So about 30 minutes before the doors opened I was on the street a cardboard sign that said “Need 1 ticket for Clutch” in one hand and a Victoria Bitter stubbie in the other. The people in line all seemed to want me to get into this show but nobody had any extra tickets (it was sold out). These guys pushed me to the front of the line and told me when the door opened talk to the bouncer there should be a few tickets left. Sure enough in a matter of minutes I was upstairs watching the the vocalist of Clutch tune his guitar on the balcony. Yeah I paid a bit more for my ticket but hey its in the name of rock. I met a bunch of people in the queue so I had plenty of people to drink beer and talk rock with.

The first band was two man blues band that was just raw. I loved it, they made me think of the Black Keys (who I absolutely love). These guys, named The Fuse, rocked. Nothing but distortion, slide guitar and hard vocals. A very good opening act. As for Clutch, they were good but I didn't get to hear the songs that I wanted. I enjoyed the concert but expected more energy from it all. The encore set was explosive and full of energy, the highlight of the night.

Attending this concerts solo has been a learning experience for me. At BJM I only met a few people and they wanted me to go do some drugs with them. While at Clutch everybody wanted to talk music, even the tram ride back to the city centre was a group music discussion. I love live music and in Melbourne there seems to be so much of it. The buskers on the street, the free festivals, the not free festivals, the little bars and the big venues that host music of all sorts. I think I am going to be spending some time and money in the name of rock in this town.

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Comments

[Glenn]

hey mate!
Hi! I see that everything is doing find for you and you left NZ! I saw the Brian Jonestown Massacre once in France too and those guys totally rocks yeah! ;) The singer and the guitarist had also few arguments on stage and was about to fight as they do on Dig! which is by the way one of my favorite music documentary as there's also The Dandy Warhols! So have fun in Autralia and I'll keep reading your posts to travel on my way too :) See ya