A history lesson on Mondo Generator sounds a lot like the flogging of a dead horse. Thankfully, for some, the horse was brought yesterday on stage to kick it and it showed it has some steam left.
The school night kicked off with Perth’s own The Devil Rides Out. The lads provided perfect support – a tight performance, commanding presence and music tuned to the sound of the night’s festivities. It took them a few songs to rattle up the small, highly devout fan base that turned out for the night. Despite the lack of deserved response, the lads continued to kick it heavy. The raspy singing/shouting of Joe Kapiteyn sat perfectly alongside his continually animated, rock n roll showmanship, and the gritty riffs and heavy melodies produced by the rest of the pack in this blues rock, early heavy metal, stoner rock mix were the perfect support. The Devil Rides Out ended with Slow Gun, a well reviewed track from their latest release, Volume III, which probably would have fit better earlier in the set due to its instrumental concentration. Nonetheless, the lads kicked off the night in the right direction and with a certain amount of bravado.
Second base was played by the good-looking kids of Screwtop Detonators. Originally from Perth, their radio-apt punk rock did it for some, and not for others. Their clean shaven, commercially prone, summer friendly, simple chords, lack-of-grit sound made them more suited to a teenage girl’s radio, or even the drunken dancefloor of a twenty-bands-a-night show. They simply seemed to lack the machismo gene imprinted in the night. Even so, the odd kids in the crowd gave it their all, and the band dealt well with flak and continually tried to charm the pants off the crowd. By the end, they even got a fair hand from the audience – be it for the music or their effort.
Last up, sealing the deal, was, of course, Mondo Generator. Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss fans shuffled in with their beers and metal punk, stoner rock expectations. The turn out appeared dedicated, and became even more so by the end of the night. Nick Oliveri was modest, despite twisting his face into the stuff that nightmares are made of. Oliveri lacked the showmanship expected of such a face, but instead let the music motivate, and most of the time it did. Even the slower numbers, like QOTSA-famous Autopilot, were well received. Unsurprisingly, what was played of Oliveri’s work with QOTSA received a better response than Mondo Generator’s, particularly the ball breaking, speed injected Millionaire, which closed the night even though 13th Floor followed it.
Other beauties included the schizophrenic Shawnette, which showcased Oliveri’s signature outburst vocals, as well as Basket Case, which signalled Oliveri’s admiration for fast paced, jerky sounds injected with raspy shouts and a smooth guitar solo. In tune to the same groove was Lie Detector, a more grainy number with an explosive chorus, perfectly apt for Oliveri’s characteristic face bending. The title track, Sonic Slow Motion Trails, off the newest album, Dead Planet, was also aired, making its sound an oddity in the pack with its highly fantasised, almost psychedelic guitar work and Oliveri’s singing (yes, the man also sings).
While the fast paced, shouting calamity that is Mondo Generator is not for everybody, the turn out surely did appreciate it. And if you were there to appreciate and collectively twitch (or explode) to the music, rather than spectate from the sidelines, then you would not have noticed the lack of stage charisma, average lighting or stiff presence. But then again, the sidelines are never as fun as the pits.
