Live Review: Bodyjar, Samian, Blueline Medic, Clowns

Bodyjar’s 20th anniversary tour wound up in Adelaide, a fitting farewell, punctuated with a parenthesised question mark. The wheelchair crowd-surfing, the on-stage marriage proposal and rousing ensemble finale bore out a fitting chaotic tribute to one of Australia’s most enduring packs of punk kids.

The crowd was ably amped by Melbourne up and comers Clowns, the aged but not wearied (and still incredibly contemporary-sounding) Blueline Medic and Californian punk elder statesmen Samiam. The camaraderie between all of the acts was evident, with each rocking the merch of one another. This fed into a free-flowing party vibe that ran throughout the night. The essence of punk was on interactive display – life’s stupid, let’s have fun.

The ‘Jar themselves started earlier than scheduled, a delightful eagerness to get on stage that seems rare amongst headliners in modern times. Frontman Cam Baines let the audience know what to expect from the outset: “We’re going to play Rimshot, then, whatever you guys want.” Two bars in and some dude in the front row was already flailing in a puddle of spilt beer, and it only got looser from there.

Whether it was last-show nerves or something more complex, the Rimshot recital was a little flat. The on-stage energy ebbed and there was a sense of the band going through the motions. Unquestionably, they were technically tight, but that’s not always what the audience of a punk show wants. The band’s introspective wave broke though, and their classic reworking of Simon & Garfunkel’s Hazy Shade Of Winter set the crowd alight – suddenly it was on for young and middle-aged.

The rest of the set gave the crowd a return to their sonic youth, and the nostalgia was well received. Too Drunk To Drive (no Adalita, damn it!) and the anthemic Not The Same stood out as fan favourites, best typifying Bodyjar’s melodic freneticism. Baines’ vocals have matured over the years, subtly eschewing some of the pre-emo whine in favour of a more powerful and confident delivery, tingeing tales of misspent youth with an appropriate note of reflective wisdom.

Maybe they started sweating a little earlier in the set and took a few more deep breaths throughout than they did 20 years ago, but the Bodyjar boys still have the beautiful punk stain on their souls – and they wear it well. This tour has certainly been a retrospective but Bodyjar may yet still have more to give.