Of all the alternative rock bands that made an impact on the Australian psyche in the nineties, You Am I seem to be the longest-lived. Releasing their debut Sound As Ever in 1993, and gigging around in the years previous, You Am I have lasted where their peers have faltered.After disappointing record sales with 2002’s Deliverance the band have concentrated on other parts of their lives. Tim commented this evening about missing his young daughter. I was quite keen to see if they still had the same punch as a live act as they did when I last saw them headline a show here in Canberra in 1998, and by George they did.
Opening for them this evening a band I’ve become quite fond of of-late, Dallas Crane. Whilst these guys have been around for eight years they have really come into their own recently; they’ve been signed to AC/DC’s label Albert Records and released their most successful single “Dirty Hearts” which got an airing early on in their set this evening. Their many years of hard work have made Dallas Crane a tight live act. They have toured extensively in that time, I recall regularly seeing them on the list of bands to play at the ANU Bar. In those formative days I was a bit scared of untried Australian bands, so I didn’t see them live, which in a way I’m regretting now. Their set was very much straight up rock music, something that we don’t get to hear a great deal of. Whilst some may deride it as derivative, if it’s attracting crowds, the punters obviously like it and that should be any bands measure of success. There was the compulsory sing along throughout the night, and much to my surprise, they pulled out “Dirty Hearts” four songs in, obviously because they have confidence in their own material, which I think is awesome. Dallas Crane’s set was thoroughly enjoyable and I’m looking forward to seeing them again when they headline The Green Room in a few weeks time.
Throughout Dallas Crane’s set the members of You Am I could be seen watching on from above the floor, waiting for their opportunity to come out and impress the crowd. When they hit the stage the assembled Canberra crowd gave them a warm welcome. It became apparent quite early on that Tim was having throat problems, apologising for his inability to hit the high notes on some of the songs. The set took in a broad portion of You Am I’s back catalogue, although I’m not sure if anything was played off Sound As Ever. Playing their classics like “Cats and Dogs”, “Cathy’s Clown”, “Get Up” and “Rumble”, You Am I showed they’d lost none of their intensity as a live band. Tonight’s set also included a couple of covers, one of Burt Bacharach’s “Little Red Book” and the other a cover of The Easybeat’s “She’s So Fine”, a classic Aussie pop song. Throughout the night, throat problems aside, You Am I showed they’re still a live force to reckoned with. I could not fault their musicianship, but I suppose that’s nothing to ride home about considering I’m about as musical as a doorknob. They played with passion and professionalism.
Before they played the last track in their set Tim quite pointedly went to each of the members of the band with the Secret Squirrel no encore sign. This didn’t stop the crowd from begging for just one more song, even after the fill music and fugly lights were brought up. So with just enough time for me to slip into the bathroom You Am I decided that they’d play just one more and returned to the stage to appease the crowd. By this time Tim’s voice was obviously hurting quite a bit so the crowd politely let them leave the stage, sated by just one more song.
