I’m not sure who was more pleased about the coming together of Expatriate and The Cops and on their Strange Creatures’ – the band members or their fans. Whoever it was, the happy, happy good times were a flowing and there was a mutual feeding of positive energies between these two talented bands and their highly appreciative audience.
Local act Leader Cheetah kicked the evening off at the rapidly filling Governor Hindmarsh, and though they too were full of energy – there was no hiding the fact these spectator folk were there to have their socks rocked off by the headliner acts, and there was a sense of impatience to get stuck into it with the clock ticking towards most punters having to go to work the next day.
Even though I personally had been hanging out to see The Cops, I was incredibly energized by the fresh confident delivery given by Expatriate. Hits like _Play A Part _ and Crazy just kept on pumping out. They had quite a following too, and not the over thirty age group I would have predicted as a matter of stereotype, but quite a swag of buxom, blonde under-agers, who were suitably impressed when vocalist Ben King stepped into the audience for a bit of strange creature contact.
Adding girth to their stage presence and to the power of the performance, Cops Frontman Simon Carter (ex-Adelaidian) and guitarist Jarrod Murphy, joined the sweaty Expatriate lads on stage, giving us an emotionally charged version of _ The Spaces Between_.
Being incredibly faithful to this sweet city myself, I smiled at the resounding ‘whooo’ that was fed back to the stage when Simon advised he grew up in Adelaide.
Keeping the standard at a high, The Cops did not disappoint. I’d had the few lyrics I knew of current single _Cop Pop _ looping around in my head for days, and it was such a relief to hear the gutsy live version.
Of course they played plenty off their latest album release Drop It In Their Laps, though it made me realize how much staying power songs like Wallet/Puffer/Smokes/Keys and Cop City Music have had in the radio-airplay popularity stakes (given they were off their 2004 Stomp On Tripwires album)
The evening’s theatrics’ went into overdrive, towards the end of the show, with Expatriate boys (clearly having utilized their beer rider) returning the favor of collaborating on a hit, with a stomping good version of Call Me Anytime. At one stage though, I wasn’t sure if drummer Todd Smith was going to whack one of them as a bin lid was repeatedly thrust in front of him to be used as an improvised bit of impromptu percussion. Bloody funny to watch though.
So not a combo I would have dreamed up, but certainly a dynamic duo. Great gig you strange creatures.
