The Grates @ The Forum, Sydney(08/05/09)

Mon 11th May, 2009 in Gig Reviews

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE.

After giving us one of last year’s best Australian releases in Teeth Lost, Hearts Won, Brisbane’s The Grates have set out upon – œThe biggest and longest adventure tour’. Friday night saw the tour Tarago roll into Sydney, as The Grates got ready to rock a full house at the Forum.

The Grates have built a well deserved reputation for being one of the best live acts in the country. For support on this tour they have enlisted the help of a band which is starting to receive similar utterings: Melbourne’s Children Collide. In fact, this line-up looked more like a double bill than your regular concert. As testament to this, the venue was almost at capacity before Children Collide appeared. First to hit the stage though were Triple J Unearthed High winners Tom Ugly, formerly known as IS. Their short and sweet set included the tracks Roll Again and Cult Romance.

After many near misses at various festivals, I was looking forward to finally getting the chance to see Children Collide hopefully live up to the hype – and live up to the hype they did! As the super-charged set progressed, I was surprised at how many songs of theirs I already knew. Some of the highlight moments were blistering versions of We Are Amphibious, Across The Earth and Farewell Rocketship.

Saving the breakthrough single Social Currency till the end of the set ensured they would bring it home as strong as it had started.
Johnny Mackay looked every bit the frontman as he did his best Kurt Cobain impression. He threw himself around vigorously during the closing track, until his guitar lead became tangled, pulling over the mic stand and almost strangling him in the process. A very rock – œn roll way to end a very rock – œn roll set.

While the first two bands played, I had noticed some interesting adornments to the stage which just didn’t seem to fit with any theme for the night. A very large wagon wheel, a couple of hunting trophies in the form of a deer and boar’s head; even some hay. I possibly should have cottoned on to this earlier, but it all made sense when The Grates frontwoman Patience Hodgson appeared onstage dressed as a boot scootin’ cowgirl.

Not giving anyone a chance to catch their breath from the last set, they launched straight into Carve Your Name. Patience absolutely tore the stage apart. There wouldn’t have been a floorboard she didn’t touch up there as she danced for the entirety of the set. Her crowd participation skills were on full display, inciting everyone in the room to break out the spirit fingers for her.

Wanting to get more in touch with her audience, Patience announced, “You’re all so far away from me down there.” In response to that problem, she jumped down and performed Trampoline while being held up by the first three or four rows of fans. We were also treated to great versions of Milk Eyes, 19 2020 and Inside Outside. After returning to the stage for the encore she was joined by Tom, lead singer from Tom Ugly.

After belting out a track together, a very impressed Patience jokingly announced to the crowd that Tom was now in her band. The Grates then went on to finish with Aw Yeah, which got rapturous applause from the crowd as it brought the night to a close. Obviously a little overwhelmed with the response, Patience gave a very heartfelt thank you to the audience and left the stage. Or should that be, rode off into the sunset?