Mudhoney, Giants of Science,Gazoonga Attack @ The Arena,24/02/05

Tue 1st Mar, 2005 in Gig Reviews

We’ve been pretty darn lucky in Australia over the past twelve months or so. After a relative drought of overseas acts deciding to make the trek to our big, somewhat brown land, we’ve been hit with an onslaught of legendary acts. These bands have let some of the older audiences rediscover their youth while giving some of us younger people a chance to see a great show we could have only dreamed about previously. Acts as diverse as Sonic Youth, David Byrne, The Dwarves, MC5/DKT, Beastie Boys have all touched down for their first Australian tours in a few years and tonight was Mudhoney’s turn to provide the nostalgia expected.

First up were Gazoonga Attack who were clearly brimming with excitement at the prospect of supporting the grunge legends and provided the relatively diminutive crowd with a solid set that seemed to be over very quickly. While I didn’t think they were an appropriate support for tonight’s show (The Hard Ons would have been far more suitable), they did all they could to get the crowd on side and I think they achieved this fairly soundly.

I hadn’t seen the Giants of Science for about three years prior to this evening’s show, over that period I clearly forgot how slick an outfit they are. They’re tight, loud (actually, probably too loud!) and they write bloody good rock songs. Lead singer Ben Salter’s melodies were as faultless as could be expected in such an environment and the harmonies of lead guitarist, Ben Tuite really fitted the bill nicely. But I have to say that bass player Tanzie is the heart and soul of the band. Such a solid bass player and an totally engaging performer, the band would be lost without him. Admittedly after a while the Giants set started to drag on and became a little frustrating, if there’s one thing they lack, it’s variation in their repetoire. They just tend to turn it up to ten and go all out and when they try to bring things down, it just isn’t very effective. Maybe this will change with the release of their new record and some more shows!

But let’s face it, no one was here for the Giants of Science and with about as little bullshit as you could imagine, Mudhoney came on to a rapturous reception, provided by the crowd in the three-quarter full Arena. After this, well what can I say? The band is still absolutely brilliant! They just seemed to have complete control of the crowd from the moment they walked on stage. They weren’t overly active on stage, but at the same time they were totally dynamic. Mark Arm has got to remain as one of the coolest men in rock and roll, screaming and singing with little to no effort over his sludgey guitar riffs. Lead guitarist Steve Turner looked like a librarian, bearded and hunched over his guitar, gently swaying to the beat. Aussie bassist Guy Maddison, of Lubricated Goat fame, looked like your typical Aussie dad ready for a night out with his friends and drummer, Dan Peters is just so damn easy to watch.

As for the setlist, well they played pretty much everything they should have. Yes, they did play Touch Me I’m Sick, alongside songs like Sweet Young Thing Ain’t Sweet No More, Suck You Dry, You Got It and possibly the best encore I’ve ever seen, with In ‘N Outta Grace followed by a killer rendition of Hate the Police. The crowd lapped up every minute of it, with people from the only downsides being the fact that there was too much bass in the mix, making things a bit muddy and the lack of stage diving, with only one punter taking the risk, I guess public liability is more important than rock and roll these days…