Manning Bar is moving up on the radar as the place to be for larger bands seeking a strong sound system and support crowd. Triple J chose this very place for their filming of The Vines’ Wednesday 17 July gig, to be broadcast nationally for JJJLive. The Vines have been trialed and tribulated throughout their rocky last few years, with a diagnosis that doesn’t need to be repeated infecting their third album, Vision Valley. Its dark and sombre tone proved too bleak for many previous fans. Craig Nichols lacked the energy and grit that he had become renowned for, and it was hard enough to keep him stable, let alone making marketable music.
But from the ashes, a phoenix always rises. The original promise of The Vines’ live shows has been restored in the wake of the vacuum they left. Watching their MTV interview, it’s good to note that Nichols’ issues are not the only that they speak of when discussing the long wait for their new album. It’s also great to hear how happy Nichols is to be back on stage and doing what he loves. Maybe I’m a cheese, or maybe it’s the effect of having family members with the same disorder, but I really do think that Craig and his story are inspirational for young struggling teenagers – especially when you consider how lauded their music is. The Vines are not a band to capitalise on bad press, but instead seek to create a new product that can stand on its own feet and prove itself worthy.
Indeed, first support act Dukes Of Windsor were keen to prove themselves as starting act for the night – understandably, they were dealing with big expectations from the nine hundred strong crowd. The dense and heavier numbers were received well by the already-stacked-down-the-front die-hard fans. Well-popularised by their Cop-esque sounding It’s A War, it was slower and more ‘roomy’ numbers (echo/distortion pedals, anyone?) that made for the deep intensity in some of their less-watched songs. A mellow start to an expectedly energetic evening.
redsunband have a reputation, but frantic ferocity is definitely not what they bring to the stage. It was a little disappointing to see such a calm act right before the Vines. Not that they don’t deserve their praise of 2004, but the new album is very transcendental and far-away. Trying to do the calm thing as a precursor to a rock-heavy gig is like someone banging a spoon on a kettle instead of a saucepan – for a while it’s new and original but after a while it just becomes the same old thing. That being said, it was nice to have three totally different styles of bands throughout the night, but the crowd drifted during this set – inside, outside, back again.
Apart from the sound guy’s bass-heavy mixing and a few pitch problems, The Vines delivered. The crowd was revved, the cameras were rolling and Craig was simply fucking stoked to be back on stage – smoking through songs in typical show-off style (dude, the last thing you need is nodules!), amply using pedal effects to muck around and have fun, and just generally grinning and bantering like a kiddie on his first line of coke. Drummer Hamish Rosser was relaxed and smooth as ever, even through older and grittier numbers such as Outtatheway. Ryan Griffiths and Brad Heald were having fun posturing about in tight T-shirts and cute hats – in a self-reflexive nod to single He’s A Rocker, perhaps? Now, if only bassist Brad could remember when he needs to harmonise…the chorus of Get Free was lacking of harmonies until about the third repeat.
Newer stuff included the extraordinary instrumental Jamola, which abides by the Vines’ ‘short and sharp’ credo. Other songs such as Manger used echo and distortion nicely to amplify Craig’s simply guitar solos. The hi-fi and low-res sound of their album was mirrored with a little more room for denser sound. Craig seemed happy to fill the space with full sound in songs such as the attitude-filled Get Out. However I must say, as a true sentimentalist, the romantic True As the Night did it for me – a little happier, a little calmer, a little-more old-fashioned than what we’re accustomed to from the Vines. Tonight was as good an introduction to Melodia as you could’ve hoped for.
