The sign on the gate warned people that this was a rock concert and that dancing would be encouraged – the first sign that this was going to be a chilled event. The second sign was the plethora of picnic blankets in the mosh pit. The lineup might have been more suitable to a winery afternoon, and the Divinyls were let down by the choice of supporting acts who drew a different kind of crowd to one they might have expected in Fremantle on a Saturday night. They might have been better off in a smaller venue such as Amplifier where they could have rocked out in a more intimate way with their fans.
The Church were polite and pleasant as they played their short set of songs, none particularly distinguishable from each other but all agreeable sounds to waft over picnicking friends. They didn’t complain about the terrible sound mixing and gently encouraged applause, letting the audience know that it was what they lived for. Playing their best-known hit Under the Milky Way at the tail end of the set sparked a soft audience sing-along and saw at least one fan raise a beseeching hand towards the sky in an earnest bout of interpretive dance.
Chris Isaak began his set with Somebody’s Crying, introduced himself, and then took some of his band into the mosh pit for an up close and personal experience with his fans, almost losing one of his band members in the process. He was modelling a bright red suit festooned with sequins and mirrors that all the cool Santas will be wearing next Christmas. So shiny.
He performed all of the favourites, including Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing, Blue Hotel and Wicked Game as well as covers of Roy Orbison and Elvis songs. By the time he was four songs in, the cheering had become noticeably high pitched as most of the men from the mosh pit had excused themselves from their partners and gone to get food or use the portaloos.
After almost an hour break between sets, the Divinyls arrived on stage and after a song and a complete overshare about her pre-show toilet failures, Chrissy Amphlett proceeded to bitch about the sound quality, even breaking off mid-song to wait while the sound people fixed the drum feedback. Fair enough too, the sound had been terrible all night, and there is really no point in performing music that has turned to mud by the time it reaches the ears of the fans. She eventually gave up and just carried on the set, but by this stage she had lost many of the Chris Isaak fans who were leaving in droves, staggering drunkenly towards the exit, possibly to beat the traffic home. The true Divinyls fans didn’t mind, it left more room for them in the mosh pit, and they were able to build on each other’s excitement to create a show beyond their expectations.
They played songs spanning their 27-year career including Hey Little Boy, Science Fiction, Pleasure and Pain and didn’t urinate on stage, finishing up with I Touch Myself, their only Australian Number One single, and Make You Happy. It is doubtful that they gained any new fans, but they certainly kept their old ones, and made them happy by returning to perform in Perth after so many years.
