You Am I

The Peninsula Lounge in Moorooduc, Victoria, has hosted some highly esteemed names in its short history and Saturday November 4 was no exception, with beloved Aussie legends You Am I and all-girl trio Spazzys gracing their stage.

Kicking off the evening was Auckland band Shaky Hands, who ripped out their brash new wave songs to an almost empty room. The small audience didn’t dampen their spirits though and those who had got there early were treated to a sound reminiscent of the early 80s, with singer Nick’s Robert Smith-like vocals and nervous energy (which would see him hanging by his feet from the lighting gantry like a bat two nights later in Melbourne) the focus. Highlight of their set was their cracking cover of Split Enz classic “Shark Attack”; their countrymen would have been proud.

Next up were You Am I’s “little sisters” (according to Tim Rogers), the Spazzys. These three girls have come an awfully long way from the early days of three-chord Ramones covers; their second album is due out soon and judging by the new material introduced for this tour, it should be a corker. New single “Divorce” was full of the familiar Spazzys fun and energy, and set-closer “Dissolution” was a real standout with superb three-part harmonies through the choruses. First album Aloha Go Bananas was well-represented with “Paco Doesn’t Love Me”, “The Sunshine Drive” and “My Car Doesn’t Brake” popular with the crowd, which wasn’t making enough noise for bassist Lucy – “Are you drunk yet?” Crowd: “Yyyyeeeeaaaasssss!!” Lucy: “Well get drunker!”

Enter Tim Rogers and his band of cohorts. Reports that the previous night’s gig in Sydney had featured a string of lesser-known album tracks had us full of anticipation, and to our delight we were treated to the same set, with staples like “Purple Sneakers”, “Cathy’s Clown”, “Mr Milk” and “Heavy Heart” ditched in favour of obscurities such as “Plans”, “Wally Raffles”, “Fifteen” and “Moon Shines On Trubble”. Any other band omitting their singles in this way would send fans storming out in disappointment, but You Am I fans are a devoted and knowledgeable bunch and each equally precious song was greeted with a rapturous roar. Latest album Convicts contributed half a dozen tracks to the set, with singles “It Ain’t Funny” and “Friends Like You” going down particularly well and the main set closing with “Thank God I’ve Hit The Bottom”, Rogers screaming his heart into the song with wrenching passion. The band did make one concession to popular choice; “Berlin Chair” was unexpectedly added to the encore with predictable raucous results.

The band was obviously thoroughly enjoying themselves and played superbly well, with drummer Rusty Hopkinson and bassist Andy Kent providing the rock-solid foundation for guitar wunderkind Davey Lane to layer his plethora of always-wonderful but never-overdone chord effects and licks over. But the focus of You Am I is undeniably singer/guitarist Tim Rogers, acknowledged when his bandmates left the stage to allow him to play a beautiful bracket of three solo acoustic songs.

A You Am I gig is always a very special treat and the Peninsula show was no exception. Long may they continue to trample stages big and small in Australia and around the world!

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