New Christs
+ Shifter
+ High Society
@ the Headlands Hotel, Austinmer
July 22, 2000

I caught the Thermals again last week, but decided it was too early to be writing about a band I'd reviewed so recently, great though they were. However it's not so long since I wrote about the New Christs either and here I am breaking my own rule by writing about them again, but... I just can't stop myself.

Austinmer is not far short of Wollongong (scene of last year's superb gig with Brother Brick doing far more than merely supporting) and the Southern Freeway between Sydney and Wollongong allows you to make pretty good time, although descending through the Bulli Pass was a new and exciting experience for me, especially in the dark with some sort of mammoth land rover/off road vehicle hugging my arse. I just had to hope that he'd had his brakes overhauled as recently as I had mine done, as it's a very steep slope and going "off road" in this situation would lead to a long drop into the next life.

Having managed to miss the Headlands Hotel the first time through Austinmer I had to turn around and go all the way back to Thirroul before I could find anyone who could give me directions. The old timer I managed to bail up gave me pretty good directions (he even seemed to know that that's where "the big rave" was) but spoiled it by adding, "You can't miss it", which of course was complete bullshit since I'd already missed it twice.

I'm assured that the Headlands Hotel has a great view of the ocean, being on a cliff, but in the darkness I couldn't tell - my main concern was just to stay on the winding dirt road and not become embedded in the scenery somewhere out there in the darkness at the bottom...

By the time I arrived, I'd missed the first band completely and High Society were well into their set. These guys are really into the showmanship side of performing and are pretty entertaining to listen to as well, so I was glad to at least catch the end of their act.

Next up were Shifter, a trio who were very good when they stuck to straight ahead rock, but were less successful when they veered off into more freeform territory already well surveyed by the likes of Nunchuka Superfly.

From the moment they took to the stage, once again the New Christs made it clear that they play up a division from most other Sydney bands. Having had two gigs in Melbourne last week, they sounded like they were on a roll and Mr Younger looked like he was enjoying himself, which is always a good sign.

Now that Nik Rieth is no longer with them, the sound is continuing to coalesce around the new drummer. Where Nik used to lay down a beat like the sound of God banging his gavel on judgement day, new drummer Stewart Wilson's playing is more integrated into the overall sound and they've picked up the pace on some songs - in particular the rendition of "From On High" (my favourite track from the "Lower Yourself" album) exhibited a new sense of passion and urgency. On "Born Out of Time" the segue into "Shakin' All Over" has turned into a medley, arriving at "Shakin' All Over" via a bit of Del Shannon's "Runaway" ("As I walked along...") and returning to BOOT via something else which I wish I'd written down at the time.

They ended the set with "Comin' Apart", sounding so fresh it might have come from the "Lower Yourself" album as well, rather than the much older "Distemper". Only two new/unreleased songs in the set, but once again I am left hoping that we won't have to wait too long to see that new album.

Meanwhile, a significant portion of the audience went apeshit, including one small woman who completely abandoned herself to the music, bouncing off those around her while flailing around with her arms and doing her best to jam one or more fingers up my left nostril. The room wasn't completely packed (which was just as well considering the mini mosh developing in front of the stage) but, before they came on, some guy standing near me said that he couldn't remember seeing a better crowd in the place. However, I have to take this with a grain of salt as in further conversation it became clear that there were plenty of other things that he couldn't remember either - Rob Younger's name for a start (he kept referring to him as "Ron" or "that guy from Radio Birdman") - and he didn't seem to have any real idea who the New Christs were, although once the music started he was right into it (or right out of it, depending on your perspective).

There seemed to be a good mix of old fans, new fans and locals just out for a good time. I can't imagine that anyone could have gone home disappointed.
- John McPharlin