The Alohas/Penny Ikinger @ the Excelsior Hotel, Sydney
Challenger 7 @ the Green Square Hotel, Sydney
Saturday, November 11, 2000

By JOHN M\cPHARLIN
Penny Ikinger photo by ANTHONY HORAN

All too often I hear people saying that there's no decent live music around any more. This is usually a prelude to some misty eyed reminiscence about the glorious days of their youth when there were a million great bands playing every night... and the beer tasted better and with only sixpence in your pocket you could still have yourself a great night out, including a packet of smokes, a couple of hamburgers, a quick root, enough beer to make you chunder until dawn and yet still have sufficient money left over for the tram ride home... Of course most of the people coming out with this lame lament never go out at all these days, so they wouldn't have a clue whether there's really any good music around or not and frankly, most of them wouldn't even know if they had a tram up 'em until the doors opened and the passengers started stepping off.

Not only is there plenty of good Rock Action still to be found, but on nights like tonight there's an extensive, agonizing range of choices. For me, in the end it comes down to a contest of two. Challenger 7 are playing at the Green Square and were in awesome form a couple of weeks ago, at least according to reports of their most recent gig which I missed for reasons that need not concern us here. Meanwhile Penny Ikinger is making a rare trip up from Melbourne to support Spencer Jones at Bar Broadway and instead of playing solo, this time she's enlisted the services of Jim Dickson and Nick Fisher to provide a bit of backing.

The decision is made all the harder by the fact that Challenger 7 have got the Pyramidiacs doing a rare gig to support them (it seems that on average every member of the Pyramidiacs is in ten other bands, so there's only ever about two nights a year when they're all free of other commitments and available to play together as the Pyramidiacs), while Spencer Jones doesn't come to Sydney very often either.

Faced with a difficult choice such as this, I opt to adopt the strategy that has often worked for me in the past: I try to have a helping of both. Since I spot that Penny Ikinger is doing another support spot the same night at the Excelsior and since shows at Bar Broadway are invariably scheduled to start much later than at any other venue, it occurs to me that in order to play the two supports, she must be on first at the Excelsior, then doing a quick cash and carry to get to Bar Broadway to do her other support there. Hence in theory a bloke could catch her set at the Excelsior, jump into his car and whip out to the Green Square to catch Challenger 7 plus some of the middle support (the Pyramidiacs are playing first up unfortunately), then jump back into the car and nick over to Bar Broadway for most, if not all, of Spencer Jones' set. Seems like a sensible scheme to me.

I arrive at the Excelsior a little before 8:30 and luck into a park just round the corner. Obviously God is looking after me tonight. At the door, they tell me that in fact the Alohas are going on first and Penny Ikinger won't be on until 9:30. Perhaps God has now taken his eye off the ball. Quandary: looks like I guessed wrong, so do I ditch the plan and just go for the complete show at the Green Square, or take a punt here? I opt to stay where I am.

Surprise, surprise, the Alohas are all dressed in matching shirts emblazoned with the band's name and turn out to be dedicated to playing instrumental surf music. I can't help recalling Jimi Hendrix's statement that he thought his lasting legacy to the world would be that after him there would be no more surf guitar. Apparently he was wrong, even if his heart was in the right place. The opening number is very Dick Dale, while the second is slower and moodier. This is the highlight of their set for me and from then on the rest of their songs blend into one, although the bass player does have a good line in sound effects by gargling his beer up close to the microphone at appropriate moments. Most of the audience are enjoying it though, so it's just me who is out of step (and this is not a new experience for me, I must confess). Of course, most of the audience are also dressed up in retro sixties gear, while I am conspicuously "out of uniform", so it is possible that different criteria are being applied.

The Alohas don't finish until 9:25, so are still in the early stages of packing up at 9:30 when Penny Ikinger is supposed to be on stage. However, maybe my guess wasn't so wrong after all, because when she fronts she acts like she doesn't have much time to spare and she and the band proceed to do one of the quickest set ups in recent memory. They deserve extra points from the judges due to the greater degree of difficulty presented by not only the impediment of the Alohas still clearing their equipment off the stage, but also the Intercontinental Playboys (tonight's headlining act at the Exe) choosing this moment to bring all their equipment in through the back door, a route which takes them across the stage and into the storage area whence Jim Dickson and Nick Fisher are trying to retrieve all their own equipment.

For most of the subsequent set, Penny Ikinger basically does what she normally does in her solo performances, delivering her melancholy lyrics with the breathless urgency of the confessional while accompanying herself on guitar, effectively leaving the rhythm section to do their own thing - and what a magnificent thing it is! Nick Fisher's playing has a real jazzy, free form feel to it tonight and he and Jim Dickson develop some remarkable rhythmic textures while playing off each other and occasionally even entice Ms I. into cutting loose and displaying some of the guitar ability which she all too often hides while sticking effectively to rhythm in the shadow of Charlie Owen, as happens both in Louis Tillett's band and in her occasional outings with Tex Perkins.

Unfortunately this musical experience doesn't seem to be to the taste of a significant portion of the costumed crowd, who choose to parade their lack of interest and manners, in roughly equal parts, by talking loudly through much of the set, though they are periodically silenced when the band comes together and rocks out ferociously, as they do in particular on "Shipwrecked" and "Poison Berries".

The moment the music is over, I'm out through the front door and into the car for the quick trip over to the Green Square. Fortunately I find a park quite close to the pub and as I approach the front door I note with relief that the band I can hear is not Challenger 7. In fact it's Hey Maker, the third band on the bill tonight at the Green Square and they don't sound any too foul from the front bar either, but by the time I've secured myself a beer they've finished their set. I immediately run into Stewart Cunningham from Challenger 7 and Mark Lewis from Clodhopper, who assure me that I've missed a great show so far, as the Pyramidiacs in particular played a blinder, but I'm still content with the choices I've made for the night.

Over the years, Challenger 7 have turned rolling chaos into an art form. Tonight the band is on fire, but that doesn't mean that the show is without any of the trademark turmoil and tribulation involving broken strings, slipped guitar straps, the occasional false start or missed cue and the inevitable last minute stuffing around with the setlist, up to and including the moment when one or more members have already started on the intro to what they thought was agreed would be the next song...

What carries them through tonight, as always, is the quality of the songwriting, the expert and adroit, to the point of obsessive, musicianship and the variety of their repertoire; from power pop through Oz/Detroit to the virtual stadium anthem of "Rock & Roll Sound", these guys can do it all. The only thing they have yet to master is how to close their set decisively, as once again their showcase rendition of the Who's "Substitute" ends to the apparent confusion of everyone, both on stage and off. Is that it? Are we doing one more? Yes! No! Aw stuff it, everybody just go home.

By this time it's just gone midnight. Mark tells me he is heading off to catch a late show somewhere and I know I should be getting over to Bar Broadway to catch some of Spencer Jones' set, but suddenly I'm feeling drained, so instead I opt to head home and spend a few hours wrapped in the arms of Morpheus, dreaming contented dreams of feedback and unrelenting riffage.- John McPharlin

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