Powderfinger, The Vines,Operator Please @ TheRiverstage, Brisbane(04/09/2010)

Sun 5th Sep, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Powderfinger began their long goodbye to Brisbane fans by revisiting just a few of their old classics, mixed in with all their standards, and a bunch of fireworks to boot.

Operator Please can no longer get by on the novelty of being “that band that are all still at high school” and tonight’s opening set seems to show that they’re in it for the long haul. Their newer songs eschew the abrasive, “Don’t like us? Screw you!”-edness of their earlier material. Unfortunately, the sound system has clearly been implemented for tonight’s headlining band, and Operator Please never come close to full velocity. A slowed down cover of Blondie’s Heart Of Glass doesn’t really work, and nor does a drum-and-bass heavy, violinless version of signature song Song About Ping Pong. Still, the crowd gives them a warm cheer when they finish with single Logic, and you can’t ask for more than that for an opening band.

During the break before The Vines, we get treated to a fireworks show courtesy of Riverfire, and every time the jet flies over, doing the traditional fuel dump-and-burn, it gets a cheer – regrettably, more of a cheer than Operator Please.

The Vines might be one of the most divisive bands going around, with frontman Craig Nicholls as polarising as ever. When they rip out some chords, such as opener Outtathaway, He’s A Rocker and breakthrough hit Highly Evolved, all sins can be forgiven, and they are as punchy as they come. But weaker moments, ie any time Nicholls picks up an acoustic guitar and tries to genuinely croon, are cringeworthy. It’s always hard to tell if a frontrow crowd is there for the support, or just lining up early for the main band, but the fact that the crowd barely moves the entire set is a pretty good indicator of the latter. The Vines save the best for last, going out with Ride With Me, Get Free and FTW, during which Nicholls does his obligatory guitar smash. What may be most damning for The Vines is not their inconsistency, but the fact that they’ve become predictably inconsistent.

There is, unsurprisingly, an element of bittersweet melancholy hanging over tonight’s Powderfinger sets. For most punters, there’s a lot of lasts; the last time we’ll cheer them on stage, the last time we’ll hear Bernard Fanning softly croon the first part of opening number Love Your Way before cracking into it with the rest of the band, the last time we’ll hear them play any given song, the last time they’ll come out for two encores. The band has 20 years in the business, and it shows in their professionalism and relaxed charisma while on stage. Every song gets a wild cheer from a crowd that has packed itself into every nook and cranny of the Riverstage for one last goodbye for one of Queensland’s most popular bands.

After a half-dozen songs, including the fantastically epic Thrilloilogy, the band disappear, only to reappear a few minutes later on a stage that has been constructed halfway up the bank, behind the sound desk. It’s back-to-basics stuff, with no backdrop, video screens, or special light show – just the five band members rocking out. The songs are appropriate too – they thrash out Like A Dog and cult favourite Belter, before Fanning disappears back down to the main stage to play Whatever Makes You Happy solo. The band didn’t spend nearly enough time on this special stage – it would have been nice to see them play some more of their older stuff up there.

But then, that’s true of the night as a whole – over the course of the evening, the band play 7 songs from Odyssey Number 5, but only two from Internationalist and one from Double Allergic (and it’s not a particularly memorable version of Pick You Up, despite being dedicated to “anyone who ever came and saw us play at The Site or The Roxy,” – two classic, long-gone Brisbane venues). It would have been nice to see the band push themselves a little more, and bring back some more of the older material – the set list feels identical to the one we’ve seen them play quite a few times over the past few years.

Still, the show is expectedly excellent – these are five musicians who know the ins and outs of their material, their performance, and their audience. Bernard seems like he’s struggling to get through Got You On My Mind to finish the first encore, and if it’s due to emotion, who could blame him? The band come out to cap off the night with These Days, providing a fitting finish to an excellent set. This might not be the band’s last performance in Brisbane, but for most of tonight’s punters it’s the end of an era, a last chance to say goodbye to favourite sons, and the crowd lets them know they will be sorely missed.

Set list:
Love Your Way
Waiting For The Sun
Lost And Running
Burn Your Name
Bless My Soul
Sail The Wildest Stretch
Thrilloilogy
Not My Kinda Scene
Like A Dog
Belter
Whatever Makes You Happy
Sunsets
My Happiness
Passenger

These Days