Spy v Spy
@ the Northpoint Tavern, Friday April 26, 2002
(with The Incident)
@ the Crest Hotel, Sylvania, Saturday Apri 27, 2002l
We
owe these gigs to the Spies' continuing popularity in Brazil. The prospect
of another tour of that country got the band members clearing their schedules
of other engagements and even though that tour then fell through at the last
minute (apparently due to visa problems - it's being mooted now for October),
Brazil's loss was our gain.
Support for the Northpoint Tavern show was The Incident, long time friends and frequent fellow travelers of the Spies, although it's been a couple of years since I last saw them. Tonight their line up only extended to one guitarist and the sound was noticeably thinner as a result.
Years ago they used to do a version of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" that was about the most extreme cover of any song since the Zoot gave "Eleanor Rigby" breast implants, Botox injections, hormone replacement therapy and a new hairdo. However there was no sign of that tonight either and their set was mainly a variety of orthodox '80s Aus rock, plus one song with a riff that periodically sounded like Deep Purple's "Woman From Tokyo" was trying to force her way into the chorus.
The highlight of their set was an aggressive number, bordering on punk, which went out to the Catholics in audience. It had a chorus about going down on nuns and something in one of the verses about telling a priest to bend over so the singer could do to him what he wanted to do to the pope... Very topical, given the continuing revelations about the clergy in the media! Almost as amusing as the song itself though, was the sight of one older (as in just short of a blue rinse) woman who didn't seem to know where to look while all this was going on. She did seem to know some of the members of the band, so perhaps she was somebody's mum or aunt, but if that's the case I can't understand why this song was such an obvious surprise and shock to her.
From the number (and variety) of Spy v Spy tee shirts in the audience, it was pretty obvious which band most punters had come to see (and come quite significant distances too, judging by some of the conversations going on around me). Although the Spies were a little tentative to start with, they soon slipped back into their old rhythm and stances, with guitarist Mike Weiley staking out his territory to the left of the stage while bassist Craig Bloxom roamed all over the rest of the stage, when not actually singing into the microphone; the band sounding as if their last show had been last week, rather than almost two years ago (at least I don't think they've played any shows since June 2000).
One problem early on was that Mike's foot pedal had developed a loose connection that kept interrupting the electrical contact, periodically causing the sound of the guitar to fade in and out or even cut out completely. Fortunately the roadie managed to dig up a new pedal from somewhere, since neither gaffer taping the external wires to the stage nor trying to hold the wires and base steady while kneeling at Mike's feet proved to be a practical solution (and holding everything still so as to maintain the connection while keeping his fingers out of the way of Mike's foot was proving to be a fairly nerve-wracking experience, judging by the anxious look on his face).
From where I was standing, I had a clear view of Mike's cryptic setlist and couldn't help noticing that it had "Harry" about halfway down, immediately before "1 Kind". When they went straight into "One Of A Kind", without playing "Harry's Reasons" first, I was gob smacked. Had they unaccountably decided to drop it at the last minute? Had I been so blissed out at the progress of the set so far that they'd played it and I'd missed it? Luckily no, as they played it next, with Mike giving no indication that he'd even noticed that his setlist was in the wrong order.
After the opening "All Over The World" and "Trash The Planet", the set steadily built up intensity, with "Don't Tear It Down" being the first major peak for the band and the audience; a couple of songs later "Asleep At The Wheel" absolutely shredded and towards the end of the set "A.O. Mod TV Vers" sent the fans berserk, bodies colliding and fists thrusting in the air as they chanted along at the appropriate moments. However security was very relaxed throughout the show, even when one idiot close to the stage lobbed his half empty glass amongst Mike's foot pedals and effects boxes, bringing the roadie scurrying back out onto the stage with a towel to try to mop up the consequent pool of liquid before it shorted everything out. Back in the old days, that would have been worth a good thumping from the bouncers...
There were two surprises during the evening. The first was a guest appearance by the Spies' publicist, providing a little impromptu saxophone support on "Working Week". Well, semi-impromptu anyway, since apparently they had a run through during the sound check. The original recording includes a horn section, but this was the first time I'd ever heard it played live other than as a trio.
Other songs in the set included "Hard Times", "Golden Mile", "Use Your Head", "Injustice" and "Waiting". The virtual finale was a thundering rendition of the socially conscious "Credit Cards" ("Half the world with credit cards/the other half left to starve..."). It's always been a highlight of their live shows to be sure, but tonight it was played with an ultra extended coda that only concluded when drummer Paul Wheeler kicked his drum kit to pieces (and this despite Mike's setlist showing that there was still one more song to go!).
Coming after this performance, the closing "Clarity Of Mind" (once the roadies had hurriedly reassembled the drum kit as best they could) was anti-climactic, notwithstanding the presence of the second surprise guest of the evening, former Choirboy Mark Gable helping out on vocals. The crowd seemed bemused at this advent, as was I. Frankly I've always lumped the Choirboys in with Noiseworks and the Screaming Jets, as second string beer barn sloggers trailing somewhere in the distance behind the likes of Cold Chisel and the Angels, but I guess the Spies had a foot in both camps in their heyday and were as happy - and successful - out in the suburbs as they were in the inner city (and particularly triumphant at the Sydney Cove Tavern, St James Tavern and Tivoli... venues all consigned to fading memory now).
The encores of "Something" and "Oceania", not on the setlist but demanded by a throng that would not accept that the show was over, were virtual audience singalongs. "I've got blisters on my fingers!", announced Craig towards the end of the night, echoing John Lennon. Given that the band hadn't gone on stage until around about 11:00pm, I'd been worried that they'd be cut off at midnight, but with the Northpoint Tavern being at the base of a large office building in a non-residential area, I needn't have worried. No noise restrictions or curfews around here!
What better way to follow up a night like that than to go and see them again the next night? Yep, that's what I thought too! I don't know what the deal is with the Crest Hotel though. The Celibate Rifles gig there last year wasn't particularly well advertised and this gig didn't seem to have been advertised at all (at least not outside the suburb of Sylvania). If it hadn't have been for the Spies' own web page (http://www.ozwebart.com.au/spy/dates.htm) I wouldn't have had a clue that it was on.
Not knowing if there was going to be a support act or not, I got there some time not too long after nine. According to the barman, the band was supposed to start "between 10:30 and 11:00", so it was going to be a fair wait. Actually it was more like ten past eleven before the show finally started (no support act) and that was after a false start about twenty minutes before that, when they turned down the lights and recorded music, getting everyone's juices flowing prematurely. However, as we continued to wait in the semi-darkness, there was little movement on the stage and then the volume of the recorded music came back up, sending plenty of dejected punters back to the bar to squeeze in another beer while there was still time. Hmm, maybe that was the whole point of the exercise.
Whether or not it's true that all things do come to those who wait, eventually the band did put in its appearance, which was enough to make me happy. The set list was basically the same as the previous night, though where that performance had a few minor flubs (and one or two fully blown road accidents), due to their energetic but seat of the pants, rush the gap, she'll be right on the night approach (wholeheartedly endorsed by the crowd I might add - "We're among friends!", Craig had commented cheerfully), tonight they were calmer and a little more controlled. Pacing themselves like this meant there were few actual flubs, but also slightly less intense peaks during the set.
All of last night's highlights made their appearances again ("Don't Tear It Down", "Asleep At The Wheel", "Harry's Reasons", "AO Mod TV Vers" and "Credit Cards"), but only "Credit Cards" really scaled the heights of the previous night's performance (surpassed it even, with Craig leaping towards the drum kit on the final note, frantically signaling Paul not to destroy it as he'd done the night before). Played simply and without the necessity to accommodate any guest vocalists this time, "Clarity Of Mind" came over as much less of an anti-climax as well.
Elliot Kleiner reprised his saxophone accompaniment on "Working Week" mid set, but from where I was standing it was mostly lost in the mix this time. I thought the sound was otherwise okay, although my mate Frank reckoned it was pretty muddy where he was standing (and he did try standing in several other places without any noticeable improvement).
The encores were "Something" again and a clearly unrehearsed "Dangerman", done with wild abandon and characteristic bravado at some fan's behest and turning out as not so much a rendition as a sketch or rough outline for some future performance, but great fun and well received by the audience anyway. Pleas from the crowd for "Sallie Anne" went unrewarded on both nights. "We've got blisters on our fingers", Craig said, though smiling as he did so, towards the end of the night, updating the band's injury status for the benefit of the familiar faces in the crowd from the previous evening.
There were significantly more bouncers at the Crest than at the Northpoint, some of them looking very concerned at the crowd's behaviour, which nevertheless was even rowdier than on the previous night. Craig appeared torn between concern and contentment, obviously uneasy at the prospect of fans hurting themselves and each other, but also at least a little pleased that the band can still whip up a crowd when they hit their stride.
They always were and still are a phenomenal live band. The tragedy is that they never recorded a live album in their prime and they never really captured their live sound in their studio recordings. There have been some rumours of a live album being assembled out of their last Brazilian tour, but nothing has surfaced yet. Thus the only sure answer for now is to make a vow never to pass up any opportunity to see them when they do play live.
"Vow" is certainly the right word, too. Ken Shimamoto wrote recently of the rituals in life and in rock (maybe rock is part of life, maybe it's more important than that...) and it's hardly surprising that most rituals have some basis in religion, since that both fuels and soothes man's most basic (dare I say primitive?) needs and fears.
As Ken suggested, ultimately most of the power of the ritual is derived from what the devotee brings to it, not from any particular power inherent in the ritual itself. Of course it doesn't hurt to have the ceremony presided over by a committed and experienced team of shamans (shamen?). This isn't high mass from your local vicar on a sunny Sunday morning; this is closer to a blood sacrifice in the red glow of dawn. Should be a good year for the crops... - John McPharlin
