New Christs/The Crown/Killer Klowns/Clodhopper
@ Caringbah Bizzos, Sydney
Friday, October 13, 2000Words: John McPharlin
Pictures: The Barman
Despite my best intentions and endeavours in the area of punctuality, Clodhopper had already started their set by the time I arrived. Last year they added a second guitarist and changed their name briefly to Mush, but neither mutation seemed to gel and the band then lapsed into hibernation for a while. Now reawakened and stripped back down to a three piece, still led by former Zen Genies and Epileptic Pigmeez guitarist Mark Lewis, they seemed to have thrown off their confusion and were getting down to doing some serious business of a straight forward rock'n'roll nature that ended all too soon for me.
The Killer Klowns are another band that had suffered some line up changes and subsequently slipped into a confused state for a while before also re-emerging as a three piece. When our paths last crossed back in July (at the Hunchbacks' CD launch), they seemed to be finally putting their turmoil behind them and the new line up had begun to show that it was capable of making some pretty impressive Detroit style noise as a trio. Their performance tonight was a further improvement/consolidation as the current line up is now really starting to hit its stride, with singer/guitarist Darren Trew's performance as they ripped through most of their "All Mine" EP (recorded when they were still a five piece) probably leaving many punters wondering why the band ever thought it needed a second guitarist.
Third(!) support for the night was The Crown, a band I've only ever seen at Bizzos and usually when supporting the New Christs. I can't help thinking that there's probably a kick arse power pop band in there somewhere waiting to be let out to strut its stuff, but in the meantime I found them a trifle too precious and self indulgent.
And then the New Christs came on and swept all before them. It's strange how many people baulk at the thought of driving as far south as Carringbah (and positively pale at the concept of traveling to somewhere like Thirroul or Austinmer), when Carringbah is barely 30 minutes from the CBD and the others are both under an hour away. In Europe, NC fans would be prepared to drive half the night for the chance to catch them in concert (and doubtless pay a lot more than $10.00 for the privilege!).
So what did we get for our money? High impact/low cholesterol rock'n'roll! One raucous serving of rawk to go; all beef; energy to burn and extra sparkle on the side; hold any filler; hold any vain ego displays; hold any shallow posing; hold any cheap theatrics.
Frankly it's becoming a chore to keep writing about shows by this band as I'm running out of fresh superlatives. Shit these guys are an impressive live unit, even when let down on the technical side: Stewart Wilson's drums were way too far down in the mix for the early part of the set and Christian Houllemare's bass also was missing in action to begin with. Even Mr Younger seemed to have a few "issues" with the sound on stage, but after some complaints and one or two pantomime moments bordering on the surreal, he seemed in the end to get what he wanted (when you consider how much he has done single-handedly to define the "Australian sound", a soundman would have to be deaf or terminally psychotic not to either give him whatever he asked for, or else die trying).Might as well clear the decks and get my other whinge out of the way straight away. Once again, the packed nature of the bill together with a blow out in some of the change over times meant that the New Christs' set had to be cut short. That blows chunks and this punter finds it difficult to respect any promoter who doesn't take steps to ensure that the headlining act can get onto the stage early enough to be able to play a full set. If that means the public whipping of a roadie or two, or even the lynching of a randomly selected member of a repeatedly recalcitrant support band, then so be it. An example has to be set!
Enough whinging, let's talk about some glorious music. From the opening strains of "Big City" to the final notes of "Here And Now", with guitarist Mark Wilkinson continuing to extract music from his guitar despite there being not one but two broken strings dangling from it, this is a band that puts everything into its performance and in their case "everything" is quite a lot. "Asphalt" sported a new coda and "The Burning of Rome" also went into a new section, invoking the name of the "Four Winds Bar" which also appears in some of Deniz Tek's songs ("Life Spill" and "Dozen On Ice" spring to mind) and apparently derives originally from BOC's "Astronomy".
The rest of the songs in the set were drawn mainly from "Lower Yourself", together with a brace of tunes from the "Woe Betide" EP ("Only A Hole" and the title track) , the vintage "Coming Apart" and both sides of the soon to be released (in Spain at least, though possibly here as well) single, "Groovy Times" and "On Top of Me" plus a couple of other unreleased songs, "Shivanarine" which has been a strong presence in shows over the last 12 to 18 months and "Nadir" which I don't remember hearing before and don't remember too well from this night either, thanks to the Barman's continuing largesse in the liquor department. Fortunately Darren Trew snagged me a copy of the setlist from backstage - while the band was still playing! - so I don't have to rely completely on my shaky memory, which is just as well since, given Mr Younger's renowned aversion to live albums, memories and setlists are all I'm ever going to have to take home with me.
