If anyone wants to know how to throw as random a musical party as possible, just ask the Age, who hosted their annual EG Awards at the Prince Bandroom on Friday night. This is no complaint, it’s just that having psychedelic rock, soul, indie and country pave the way for the stupid antics and loveable pub rock tunes of Painters and Dockers all seemed a bit much. This was especially the case for the majority of the crowd, who seemed more interested in reliving their youth of 20 years past than anything else, which of course made night’s first several hours seem a little stranger than they should have.

The night was opened by local four-piece, The Dacios, who took to the stage as a duo for a subtle and deceptive rock number. Linda Johnson rattled the tambourine as though she was lulling the crowd into safety, but as soon as the remaining members joined her for Breakneck Woman, she unleashed the severe power of her voice. The set that followed was heavy, often psychedelic and always entertaining. Johnson played like the dominant “rock chick” she is, commanding attention, whilst her band played it much more coolly beside her.

Lengthy numbers made up most of the Dacios’ stage time and whilst the constant energy kept things engaging, the extended sound-jam during Dirty Dogs waned more than a little. The cool drum intro on Monica set the bar high again to finish things off, though, as did Johnson’s flailing about to end it all. They’re the last on the Meredith timetable for those making the pilgrimage, and they’re worth hanging around for.

The Awards were next and it seemed that most in the room couldn’t care less, with MC Fee B-Squard struggling to be heard over the room’s collective voice. The winners looked a little something like this:

Coopers’ Best Homegrown New Artist – Diafrix

Best Tour – Neil Young (narrowly defeating the Leonard Cohen tour)

Best Song – Sweet Disposition

Best Group – Wagons (who were equally excited and amazed to have defeated none other than ACDC)

Best Male – Paul Dempsey

Best Female – Kate Miller-Heidke

Best Album – Wagons – The Rise and Fall of Goodtown (taking their second gong just inches ahead of Dempsey’s second)

With the award ceremony out of the way, it was time to bring out the musicians (both nominated and not) to perform in an hour of power, and a random one at that. Each act was given about 10 minutes and was to include a cover version each.

First to the helm was the mighty Tex Perkins (who’d been nominated for best male). Taking the opportunity to ignore his solo best-of tour, he opted for a Beasts of Bourbon track, Psycho (originally by Leon Payne). It was a treat for Perko fans, although the calmer number didn’t satisfy any hunger for gruffer Beasts of Bourbon material. For his second, Perkins invited Rachael Tidd as well as a horn section to the stage for a cover of Ring of Fire. A taste of his Man in Black show, Perkins deep voice proved why he makes such a good Cash.

The Wolfgramm Sisters were up next, comfortably fronting the EG All Stars. The previous country twang was erased entirely as they produced two bonafide soul numbers – Stay With Me (which included a great guitar solo from Ash Naylor) and a very re-worked Cry Me A River. The trio had a great set of voices and provided a distraction, albeit momentarily, from the bogan atmosphere of the room.

It was then Henry Wagons’ turn to show the crowd why his band had picked up a pair of awards and he did so with The Gambler – a very long tune of his own that built to a raucous display of energy on his behalf – as well as an Elvis cover, Never Been to Spain, which included most of his band joining him for vocals.

Bertie Blackman was perhaps the most oddly placed in this lineup (she had a couple of nominations still) and this showed as she competed for volume against the crowd during her own track, Heart. Whilst vocally the song was good, its usual energy was lacking a little. Still, Blackman made up for this as she rocked about the stage for her cover of Lou Reed’s Andy’s Chest.

The Dacios’ Linda Johnson wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to perform a cover and appeared again for The Scientists’ We Had Love. The room seemed to quickly forget the preceding acts as Johnson ripped the stage apart, screaming manically and throwing herself around; even upstaging her band’s performance earlier on.

Finally, Dan Sultan appeared, with certainly a hard act to follow. The more subdued Old Fitzroy appeared first as Sultan plugged his new album and whilst he didn’t have same support as Johnson at first, a Rolling Stones classic, Gimme Shelter, which included the Wolfgramm Sisters, quickly won him a heap of favour and attention to finish off the EG All Stars’ set.

Now, reunion gigs are usually pretty big events for fans. So are farewell gigs. Mix the two together – such as Painter and Dockers playing their first show in 20 years, which was also to be their last ever – and it was no wonder the crowd was going crazy for them. Five simple words: “This is In My Mind,” was all the permission those fans needed to unleash their own bittersweet energy, as the ten musicians on stage immediately returned to form for the killer introduction; Chris O’Conner beaming as he delivered one of the band’s most iconic tracks.

The subsequent set was all the fans could have asked for, full of the band’s best moments and a reinvigorated liveliness that Painters and Dockers brought to the stage two decades ago. To the right of stage, the P&D horns, The Brassholes, were as defining as ever and provided slamming performances on New World Order and Jack’s Car. O’Conner and fellow front man Paul Stewart were performing in top gear as well, riling the crowd up and gaining all sorts of participation – from the throw to the crowd singing in Soaking In It to the mosh pit encouragement of Basia and Nude School.

Stewart has become the definition of “creepy old dude”, which was as equally weird as it was funny. Rubbing his chest suggestively, keeping a banana down the back of his pants, playing the trumpet from his ass, mooning the crowd and even planting a sloppy one on the unsuspecting punter were all part of Stewart’s repertoire. Of course, he was just reliving his wonder years, as were so many of the fans who trounced the floor of the Prince Bandroom. The middle-aged men were running amuck, taking the opportunity to stage dive and crowd surf one last time. The repeat offenders were out in force, too (including a real bogan Fabio) and couldn’t help but get up onstage to sing along before jumping back into it all.

Die Yuppie Die had experienced a rebirth given the economic crisis, announced Stewart, and the track could have been the main set’s highlight, if it weren’t for the forceful sing along of, “You’re going home in the back of a divi van” during the set closer, Divi Van, which only proved such a pub rock anthem will never die. A return to the stage then upped the ante again, with Stewart teasing the crowd and holding out on the song’s climax whilst the anticipation to mosh grew. The Brassholes then took the limelight again for a cover of The Saints’ Know Your Product, before O’Conner finished the night off with the very loud Kill Kill Kill, complete with Stewart solidifying his rock star/dickhead status by smashing his trumpet to pieces.

If there was any doubt that Painters and Dockers had lost their gusto, this set proved otherwise. With a comeback like this, it’s sad it has to be the only show but given how unlikely such a reunion was in the first place it was certainly a treat fans couldn’t have been happier with.