Grinspoon

In the grand ol’ gem that is The Enmore Theatre nothing sounds sweeter in the ears of any punter than freshly picked local tunes. It also helps when those local tunes feature some of Australia’s finest in show, which really helps get the weekend started.

Entering the venue, I hear the hum of a guitar turn into a full grown growl. As I go upstairs to sit down, I squint to make out the faces onstage - two lively youths making up the Brisbane band DZ.

Two piece bands have always blown me away due to the sheer amount of noise they can make even without what some people would call essential instruments. In this case both guitarist and drummer seemed to be quietly confident, hammering away through the songs.

The tunes were catchy and clever; they worked in sharp hook lines and were sure to exude the right amount of energy without seeming like little kids with ADD. After a while it occurred to me I was sitting next to relatives of the band, who cheered louder than everyone else in the room despite being seated in the lounge area.

I'm not sure I heard enough of DZ to point out any flaws, but if I did have one little suggestion it would be to ease off the strobe lights. Strobe lights are awesome if you love stop motion films, but when you're actually trying to watch a gig, even the most discerning punter will feel queasy after a bit.

Calling All Cars were next, fresh off the road from touring with Aussie music juggernauts AC/DC. They had a massive banner and a confident swagger, but all the travel had to start wearing them down eventually and on this evening, lead singer Haydn's voice fell victim.

Despite the lack of usual vocal ferocity, the show was still a fast paced and strong example of what has made them so popular in the last year.

Something about Calling All Cars playing style makes the three piece band feel so much bigger than they actually are. Haydn’s frantic pacing, Adam’s steady bass and the thunderous echoing of James’ drums fill them room with an energy that many bands just cannot produce. It’s intoxicating and it was clear that I wasn’t the only one under the spell.

‘Not Like Anyone’ was a crowd sing-a-long, but the clear stand out was ‘Little Red Hands’, a song where the big heavy bass has a nice lead role and the guitar plays support. Either way, it got the older lady I was sitting next to out of her seat and dancing, which is a testament to the success of any song.

Our headliner of the evening was Grinspoon, a band that has made quite an impact on Australian music scene over the years.
With an impressive and bright set up they ripped into ‘Run’, a track that pretty much represents every single layer of the band. People were clearly aching for the classic hits though as moans and groans were let out when they played a good selection of their new album Six To Midnight.

Though there wasn’t a lot of banter throughout, the Grinspoon boys know how to rally a crowd. A sigh of relief and bliss was released when guitarist Pat Davern started what has to be their biggest hit to date, ‘Chemical Heart’.

The fans sang along to every word and swayed to the gentle melody and stayed promptly on their feet for the rest of evening as people clamoured to get closer to the front. There are a lot of things that can be said about Grinspoon, but one thing is for certain – they know exactly what they’re doing when they’re up on a stage. And that’s exactly the sort of band you want to see.

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