Mudhoney

A full moon, an almost complete silence, some unusually cold air and a thin fog crept through the grounds of the old Sydney Uni buildings when suddenly, someone screamed.

It was the opening support band, their jacked-up sounds permeating halfway down Manning Road. Inside, the heart of the Manning Bar was pumping with a surprisingly large amount of early attendees swinging, swaying and getting The Treatment, while dozens of others filled out the balcony. Other than their name, The Treatment are nothing like The Cure… they play a much seedier brand of washed out garage rock, with nods to the vintage fuzz-rock found in sticky old pubs like The Annandale or The Tote many years ago. Drawing occasional comparisons with ‘90s outfit The Powder Monkeys, these guys deliver theirs with a young modern palette ‘n swagger. Catch ‘em if you can.

This set up a really good platform for The Holy Soul to capably stomp across. And stomp they did… their performance suggested this is one band who are genuinely at their best live. Playing gritty, spitty rhythmic rock (and drawing occasional comparisons with ‘90s outfit Sugar Shack) they practically owned this stage and the room. Cool drummer too.

With a strong ‘90s backwash in the air tonight, it almost smells like teen spirit. Everything old is new again.

Finally Mudhoney appeared, to a welcoming roar of approval.

Clocking up twenty three years as a group and containing three original members, plus the same bassist for the last decade (expat Aussie / former Lubricated Goat bassist Guy Maddison), Mudhoney were a lot less the 1991 ‘lubricated Tote’ versions of themselves (their messiest hour, filmed live in Melbourne and now showing up on the internet; which itself started at around the same time). This time they were more fluent, more cohesive, more concise and probably a lot more sober. Sounding unerringly professional and looking healthier than most other fifty-year olds, the Seattle 4-piece had their fans embracing all their most spirited moments, particularly the older sentimentalism of tracks like You Got it, This Gift, and In ’n’ Out Of Grace which sounded brilliant.

Guitarist and lead singer Mark Arm delivered hooks, riffs and quips... from casually paying out on the lighting guy for trying to "give him a stroke", or bitching about some dude's overzealous requests, to frequent caterwauling, limb-waving and general incitement of mild mayhem without missing a beat, while Maddison increasingly emulated Foo Fighters' Pat Smear with his bemused looks and spontaneous laughter. Fellow guitarist Steve Turner and drummer Dan Peters were resolute and machine-like at any given minute and then mere humble, humanly individuals the next.

Mudhoney performed like a big ol’ indie-rock Cadillac… twenty minutes warming up, then un-fucking-stoppable. They played for one and a half hours including an encore of If I Think, Suck You Dry, Into the Drink and Hate the Police, at which late stage Turner’s beard had seemingly grown another inch, before the steadfast audience finally switched from their toes to their marching heels, all listless and satisfied.

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