Grunge Tribute Night @ TheBasement, Canberra (26/8/11)

Tue 30th Aug, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The diverse crowd at The Basement on Friday had two things in common; a love of sludgy tunes and the ability to seriously rock some flannelette. As predicted, the venue quickly reached capacity and an unfortunate few were relegated to line up in the cold. A few bars of Soundgarden’s Spoonman during the first sound check was all the encouragement the crowd needed to begin gathering in front of the stage.

The Soundgarden set, performed by Limo Wreck (featuring members of the Canberra bands, The Red Vest and Leisure Suit Lenny) began with an acoustic and pared back version of the much-loved Black Hole Sun. They were off to a nervous start, with the vocalist inexplicably chewing gum and initially stumbling over lyrics. Fortunately, this was not any indication of what was to come. Launching into a heavy and full sounding version of Outshined, Limo Wreck eased the audience into the rest of their strong and chunky set. The crowd favourite by far was the band’s rendition of Spoonman which was replete with a glorious solo played on the spoons.

Next up were Escape Syndrome performing the songs of Pearl Jam and man, they delivered! Opening with the song Once, the band immediately proved themselves with their precise and enthusiastic performance. They did a great job of energising the crowd, frequently entrusting the microphone with people at the front who were singing along unabashedly like it was the real thing. The sound was tight, Matt Faulkner’s vocals were spot on, the guitar wailed beautifully and if the band’s grins were anything to go by, they were having as much fun as the crowd. From their versions of Animal and Rearviewmirror to Porch, Escape Syndrome commanded the venue and demonstrated what a tribute night is all about.

Following on were Perpetual End with their set of grinding, psychedelic and dance-inducing Smashing Pumpkins songs. Shifting the tone of the evening, they hammered out their versions of Everlasting Gaze and Ava Adore, before building up to Zero which was suitably accompanied by generous doses of lights and green lasers. Lead singer Dean McLaren had an uncanny ability to imitate Billy Corgan’s nasal singing style. They then settled in to play the more mellow and pensive Smashing Pumpkins songs, 1979 and Disarm before rounding out the set with Bullet with Butterfly Wings, which was well received by the appreciative crowd.

The Alice in Chains set was performed by the fittingly (and hilariously) titled band, Jar of Dirt (featuring members from Melbourne’s House of Thumbs and Nine of Swords). Kicking off with Angry Chair and Again, they were clearly having a blast performing to the crowd who were singing along with abundant enthusiasm and sincerity. Demonstrating their versatility, Jar of Dirt performed the syrupy, nuanced and brooding songs of Alice in Chains just as well as they performed the crunchy, heavy and sludgy ones. Their performance of Would? was infused with the pensive, menacing energy of the original. Linden Audino punched out the vocals perfectly, with a major highlight of the night being his scream “If…I…would, could you?”

Last and certainly not least was Variodiver’s Nirvana set. It was pretty late by this stage but there was a dedicated crowd and by god did they mosh! With Justin Huehn’s gravelly vocals and the band’s big sound, the three-piece thrashed out a set which included Aneurysm, Heart Shaped Box, Lithium, Come As You Are, All Apologies and School. Even after a huge night, the crowd was singing along to every song. At some point the floor took casualties. At another, people were crowd-surfing. It was a great sight. Fittingly, Variodiver finished their set with Smells like Teen Spirit, which happened to be celebrating its 20 year anniversary on the day. Understandably, it went off.

Overall, it was a huge and massively successful night and all the bands should be congratulated for learning the songs and playing them with the passion and enthusiasm that they did.