Live Review: Tumbleweed, The Meanies, Seedy Jeezus, The Electric Guitars

Tumbleweed are back! Long live Tumbleweed! The Aussie legends have returned to promote their new album and the punters are anticipating a good time. Locals The Electric Guitars start the fun with a set that sounds like a slow and hazy trip that you'd take again, knowing full well that it could fry your brain.
With plenty of fuzz, wails and solos of all manner, trio Seedy Jeezus deftly continue to build on the psychedelic atmosphere that the openers create. The trio channel the 1960s through a grunge sensibility and the crowd is in there with them.    
It's a thing of marvel that The Meanies vocalist Link Meanie can still look good in tight jeans. But that's the thing about The Meanies; they've always been able to pull it off. Their propulsive power pop/punk rock is always a winner and classic cuts such as Scum, 10% Weird and Lyin' are as effective as ever on tonight's crowd.     
When Tumbleweed reformed to play a few shows back in 2010, they were unfocused onstage and seemed like they had an axe to grind with the people who screwed them over during their first go-around. The tunes were great, but it felt a bit like an excuse to drink beer and be a little belligerent about their unfortunate demise. Fast forward three years and the band is an entirely different beast; it feels like they're moving forward, rather than stewing on bitter memories from the past.  
A lot of the clarity in the band's set can be attributed to their new record, Sounds From The Other Side. The thing is a monster slab of fuzzy stoner rock that sees Tumbleweed fully embrace their psychedelic predilections, not worrying about having to stand under the shadow of the grunge zeitgeist. And as much as the crowd assembled here tonight wants to hear old hits like Hang Around and Carousel, they're just as stoked when the band introduce material from Other Side. Tumbleweed get heads banging with cuts such as Mandelbrot and Like A Night Owl; no one in the crowd is screaming, “Shut up and play the hits!” at the Wollongong five-piece, because the new stuff is too damn good. It's a triumphant set for the guys and, when it draws to a close, it feels like Tumbleweed have finally reclaimed, if not exceeded, the glory of their past existence. Welcome back boys.