The Stems at the Manning Bar, Sydney Uni 2004

WIG OUT - A SONIC GARAGE MELTDOWN
The Stems
+ Even
+ The Crusaders
+ The Cants
+ The Boobytraps
+ The Clearspots
Manning Bar, Sydney University
Saturday, November 6, 2004

WORDS AND PICTURES: The Barman

I'll be a baboon with a bright blue arse if his wasn't potentially one of the best bills in Sydney this or any other year. Other than an all-too-rare showing by the headliners, there was also the return from the grave of The Crusaders (Sydney's best fuzz-trash combo when they were doing the rounds regularly, five or six years ago. Plus, there was the first appearance by The Stoneage Hearts - at least in this configurations with Stems mainman Dom Mariani on guitar and shared vocals.

Although a huge fan, I never saw The Stems live, back in the day. Based as briefly as they were in Sydney, they spent most of their life in their hometown of Perth. I recall making the effort to check them out at Caringbah one night in '85, but turned up hopelessly late or on the wrong evening. I was living in the UK when they did some big supports in '86. I was also overseas when they ran around the country for reunion dates two years ago. Would have been there for Little Steven's Underground Garage Festival in NYC earlier in 2004, albeit for a disgraceful shortage of frequent flyer seats on Qantas (fuck you, Flying Kangaroo). So call me Full of Anticipation, just don't call me late for your shout. Even a bout of an ebola-like plague that wiped out my week wasn't going to keep me down.

The concept of a revival of Oz '60s Garage Rock is nothing new; we see sets of these waves roll in and expend themselves on the beaches every couple of years. What's more relevant is that (a.) The Stems led the first of these fond returns to Australian music's most relevant roots back in the mid-80s and (b.) they've influenced more local bands than you can point a winklepicker at. No contest on both counts.

And there's absolutely no problem with reflecting on what's gone before when looking for inspiration - providing you're not too precious about it all and try and add to, rather than just re-tread. Kicking back for a pre-show beer in the confines of the Lansdowne Hotel - once a staple of live music in this town, now sporadically pressed into service - it's easy to cite the past as far more listenable than the present as a spate of Snoop Dog music videos sadly traipse across the screen. Pass a barf bag, I've been sick all week anyway.

Off to the venue and it was a let down to hear that scheduling difficulties (i.e. marshaling members in one city at the same time for rehearsal) meant the Stoneage Hearts wouldn't be part of it. Melbourne punters will be lucky enough to see that band's live debut when the Wig Out rolls into town.

It was probably more of a letdown for the Boobytraps when their guitarists' rig packed it in barely two songs into their set. It's been a long time since I sighted these gals (and guys) so I had trouble working out who they were for a while. They still don't have a lot of confidence about them, so full marks for soldiering on.

Did I forget a support band? Sorry, I actually missed the Clearspots entirely, since the bill started at some ungodly early hour due to so many acts sharing the stage.

The Cants have something of a buzz around them in their hometown of Melbourne as '60s-derived wunderkids of guitar pop. The first thing to know is that their name is not pronounced as a plural of the conjunction "can't " (short for "cannot"), nor like the noun "cant" (as in a statement full of boring platitudes.) It's delivered, by the band members, more like an Olde English term for a part of a female anatomy. Glad you asked. Suppose any other spelling would have been murder to get away with on a gig poster.

Musically, they're ultra-tight powerpop with only the occasional overt nod to the '60s. On a first reading, I'd have to say there's not a lot that stands out, but that might be a trifle harsh. They do bring the first of two young girls to the dance-floor and receive a warm reception from the rest of the watchers.

The Crusaders don't trot out many new songs but no-one really gives a shit. They're here to hear "Wave to the Grave", "I Dig Your Holes" and "She's My Woman" . They want to be used and abused, and in return for every pearl of between-song widsom meted out by Sir Chris or Sir Kendall, they want to throw as many plastic glasses as is humanly possible without being red carded by security staff. The only ire from the band is when it's discovered one particularly full missile contained water, not beer.

It's raucous, joyous stuff, loud as fuck and totally irreverent. The reference points are obvious (The Sonics, especially) but there's no way known the masked men are going to bow down and pay homage. The Crusaders are, as always, trashy and trashed up, a monument to low-culture everywhere.

The best news is there are more shows soon (December 4 at Annandale) and an album will go down on tape in the very near future. Tonight, we are indeed surfing on a sea of sound.

On to Even and am I the only one wondering what they're doing on the bill? No, actually. Singer-guitarist Ash Naylor makes a comment along similar lines, adding that they're deeply honoured to be playing with The Stems as they, at least covertly, share similar influences. Fair enough.

Even are a powerpop trio that seems strangely out of place in this setting, wedged between The Crusaders and The Stems. Wally Kempton resists a briefly persistent call for Meanies tunes, obliging with a bass solo from one of their songs. Don't have any of Even's albums, can't recall many of the tunes. They probably would have been more memorable in a different setting. Maybe they were on the show to draw the uni students? If so, it worked a treat, with a stack of younger people mixed in with the old soldiers.

Tonight was billed as a '60s Garage revival meeting, with a sprinkling of rare film clips and appropriate DJ patter between bands. Don't want to be too precious here but, that being so, couldn't we have had some clips with sound and/or subtitles so we could identify a few of the more obscure items? What PiL's self-titled signature tune was doing on the turntable was a mystery. Mark Taylor (Lipstick Killers guitarist and one of the world's biggest '60s punk enthusiasts) was in the crowd and surely could have been leaned on to do the DJ duties. Apart from that quibble, promoter Paul Howell deserves a giant wrap for putting this whole shebang on the road and taking it to three cities (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane). Should be more outings like it and more people supporting them.

Changeovers have been smooth all night, with all bands using their own backlines but relying on the same kit, albeit with a change of snare and a cymbal or two. The Stems hIt the stage bang on time at 11pm and ease in to "Mr Misery" (the subject of the tune being in the audience.) Then it's into classic after classic, for near on 80 minutes.

Stem Richard Lane gets authentically-attired on keyboards, guitar and vocals.

Clapping eyes on him for the first time live (although similar thoughts flash on record) and Dom Mariani's a helluva under-rated guitarist, seemingly reveling in the chance to rock out on extended lead-breaks in songs like "Never Be Mine". Richard Lane doubles between guitar and organ, and throws himself so far into his work on the keyboards at times so as to make Roman Tucker look like a slacker. No disrespect to the other members but the Mariani-Lane axis is obviously the one on which The Stems turn, in the live setting.

Spend any time taking photos of bands at shows and you'll be up front in the close vicinity of the stage for a good part of your night. A cursory glance around the pit reveals some amazingly young girls grooving to the sounds. Even more surprisingly, many of them know the words. It gives hope for the future, and makes for an altogether more glamorous mosh area than at your average show.

Dom Mariani in Guitar God mode.

Simple songs, done simply well. You can't lose with tunes like "Under My Mushroom", "Tears me in Two", "On and On" and "Move Me". "Sad Girl" is a killer, live or on record. "Man With the Golden Heart" grows an extra leg live. We even get a newie, "Hellbound Train", that Dom trotted out with a band of the same name on the all-killer-no-filler "Antipodean Screams" comp (Off the Hip).

Great to cop a cover of the Easybeats' "Sorry" late in the night, as well as "You Can't Turn the Clock Back" (they can, and they do) and the obscure-ish B side "on the Beach" with its good-natured Gidget overtones.

Julian Matthews is rock solid, if a little snowy these days, on bass.

Big news is that although band members were alluding to this being "maybe the last Sydney show ever" (and the ongoing future of this band always seems to be a question mark) the word is that The Stems are committed to tours of the US and Europe in 2005, as well as recording of a new album in a matter of weeks.

The bar's shut by the times The Stems sign-off, more than a little past the advertised shut-off, but there aren't many complaints. Not many chances to see a re-formed band this good, firing on as many cylinders as ever.

WIG OUT 04 PLAYS THE CORNER HOTEL, MELBOURNE, ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12.