Hoodoo GurusHell yes, a fist full of rock! Looking around a venue that has seen a lot of rock in its time, the crowd, as expected, skewed towards people who were teenagers in the '90s. Adalita (of Magic Dirt fame of course), Jebediah and You Am I all formed in the '90s, while Hoodoo Gurus enjoyed a lot of success then even though they formed in the '80s.
It's sad not having Magic Dirt around anymore, as their music would have better suited this line-up. Adalita tried her damnedest, but the raw power the other Magic Dirt members provided during their heyday always brought the energy up a couple of gears. This time, however, Adalita seemed to just roll with it until her set ended.
Enter WA four-piece Jebediah. Their 1997 debut Slightly Odway is an Aussie indie-rock classic - crazy to think that it's 20 years old this year. They haven't lost any of their energy. Jebediah's youthful bravado shone through like it was '97 all over again. Most of their set comprised material pulled from that first LP, with a slathering of hits from the rest of their 20-plus-year career. They more than warmed up the crowd - there was even a bit of steam coming off us.
Rounding out the pre-show program were You Am I. No strangers to Thebarton, they've sweated and bled on these floorboards many times over. Normally their sets are longer - around 90 minutes - but this was a quick-fire 50-ish minutes. Tim Rogers was in fine form - we couldn't name a time when he wasn't - engaging the crowd with his lip service and guitar licks. He entered in true Rogers style, spitting the words, "We're a rock'n'roll band from rock'n'roll land!" They raced through the hits, even sneaking in a couple of surprise covers from Cheap Trick and Deep Purple. Rusty Hopkinson was at the top of his game on drums and Junk ricocheted off the walls, fervently, along with cuts including Get Up and Guys, Girls, Guitars. Old favourites like Good Mornin', Mr Milk, Jewels & Bullets and the finale Berlin Chair felt amazingly cathartic in this theatre setting.
Hoodoo Gurus are one of those bands that could play for two hours straight and still not get all the hits out! Some of their songs might be 30 years old but they played with fire and passion as though it were the band's first time onstage. By 10pm, the crowd had sunk a few frothies and were well-lubricated. Hoodoo Gurus entered wearing loud, psychedelic shirts and ripped into a ball-tearing version of A Place In The Sun and then ducked straight into 1983 hit Tojo.
There was a distinct volume difference between You Am I's set and that of Hoodoo Gurus. Hoodoo Gurus' sound was much clearer and had some balls to it. Hoodoo Gurus continued on with a slew of favourites: Death Defying, My Girl and Come Anytime, while mixing it up with lesser-known tracks Form A Circle, In The Wild and I Was The One (which was a Facebook request from one lucky punter). But Bittersweet and 1000 Miles Away were the highlights of the night. They played these songs with such ease, but boy did they get the crowd revved up!
Just when we thought the end of the performance had unfortunately arrived, You Am I were invited back to the stage for a blistering combined performance of The Sweet's Ballroom Blitz. Aussie rock is truly alive and well!
