Grinspoon are now elder statesmen of the Australian scene. The bratty and chaotic punk attitude that defined their early career is long gone, having been replaced by a level of professionalism and technical expertise that if you tuned out after New Detention may not have expected.
Saturday nights set offered little new for punters, judging by the seeming lack of anyone under the age of 21, new was hardly what anyone was after. New is challenging, it makes you think, and most importantly, new means you can’t drink your beer and sing along. What Phil Jamieson and company delivered on their promise of a set chock full of their greatest hits, back to back performed efficiently with minimal fuss.
Minimal fuss is a phrase that will probably never be used to describe The Snowdroppers, even if their career does stretch on towards 20 years like Grinspoon. There is nothing subdued or reserved about lead singer Johnny Wishbone’s stage presence. He snarled and prowled the stage in the manner of a repressed office worker, given one chance to unleash all his boredom and anger upon the audience. His dance moves which included push-ups, crotch grabs and gyrating hips intended to be masculine but instead came of as slightly homoerotic. All the while the rest of the band worked through their sludgy blues rock that draws influences from many of the great Australian rock bands, it ends up sitting somewhere between Nick Cave and AC/DC. 'Do The Stomp' finished up the set well with its railroad bluegrass stomp.
Grinspoon may be the last great Australian pub rock band left. They tour relentlessly, continue to release albums which spawn huge Triple M ready singles and are more than willing to give their devoted fan base exactly what they want. Their success is even more impressive when you consider that they survive as a touring band, almost purely off their Australian audience.
The respect and dedication to their fan base is returned in equal measures. It wouldn’t be a long stretch to guess that just about everyone in the audience tonight had already seen Grinspoon once in the last year or two. It may of been at the main stage of the Big Day Out, in a regional centre, or at the Enmore itself, so present have they been. It's the level of showmanship, professionalism and a huge stage production, with enough lighting for Van Halen to play the first gig on the Moon that ensures fans keep coming back.
Why wouldn’t you though when guaranteed a constant run of classics, which included 'Ready 1', 'No Reason', 'Black Friday', 'Rock Show', 'Chemical Heart' and the anarchist bent of '1000 Miles'. These tracks have been staples for years, but there was no sense of jadedness to how they were performed, giving some a little more muscle and slowing others down to give the audience some respite.
Newer tracks were well received as well with 'Passerby', which recalls some of their best tracks earning a huge reception. The encore closed out the night with 'Lost Control' and 'DC×3' and it was difficult to think of a better way to spend a Saturday night.