Tumbleweed @ Fowler’s Live,Adelaide (18/06/11)

Fri 24th Jun, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Some 300 punters made their way into Fowlers to witness a great show from Wollongong’s stoner grunge outfit Tumbleweed.

The night began early with local supports from indie powerpop outfit Quiet In The Lab! and the nice B.M.R.C. rock stylings of Ride Into The Sun, who both put on solid performances. Melbourne’s Money For Rope were next up and their rockin tunes started to get the swelling crowd in the mood. The line up of 2 drummers, 2 guitarists, bass and keys with 4 vocals during most chorus’s helped pack some real punch into their eclectic rock tunes. They were energetic throughout and are definitely a band to look out for.

At 10pm Tumbleweed hit the stage to deliver an hour and a half of relentless stoner grunge rock. Singer Richard Lewis was in fine form, having not lost an ounce of energy since I last saw them support Nirvana back in ’92. Tumbleweed pumped out one 3 minute grunge opus after another, only taking a moment to slow down during mellow number Acid Rain (and for Richard’s odd rant of “how ya feelin out there!? Are ya havin fun!?”).

The crowd of mostly over 35’s were bang into it for the whole set especially when classic Daddy Longlegs was flashed out three quarters of the way through sending everyone into a frenzy. Richard’s dancing and their phat Big Muff pedal sound were a force to be reckoned with tonight and punters just couldn’t get enough bringing the band on for two encores (with the chant of ‘Weed! Weed! Weed!’and the various aromas that go along with it).

All in all it was a great rock show with Tumbleweed proving that a 15 year break has not softened them whatsoever. And I’m sure that after the response this evening they’ll be back in the not too distant future. Oz Grunge rock is not dead, it just had a vacation….