Icehouse Friday 10th 2014

Well, where do I start? I’ve been to two killer icehouse gigs in the past two days and I may be tempted to spend my time locked away in my music room if not for the fact that I have another one on Tuesday. Here is what Friday felt like.

The gig started with the supremely talented Michael Paynter. He was a great choice for support, it’s just a pity that the audience don’t always see it. His cover of Latch as well as the beautifully written Weary Stars were stand outs from his set.

Soon enough, though, it was time for the main event. The band started with Fatman – a new edition to the set in comparison to previous gigs that I’ve seen. It felt like the band really kicked in when Icehouse was played. There’s something about Paul Wheeler’s drumming in that song that says “business”. It was bloody phenomenal and reminded me of exactly why I need to play more.

Next up was Love In Motion. It feels kind of odd to hear a song that great so early. I wanted to get up and dance but the rest of the audience felt like stiffs. I think my friends felt it too (the next night Crown made an announcement that you could dance on either side of the stage. Good move, Crown)

Iva dedicated Hey Little Girl to all the females in the audience and maybe it took Love In Motion to warm the audience, but suddenly, bums were off seats – including mine. The boys then dug into the bag of hits and pulled out Hey Little Girl and Crazy before it was time for Australia’s unofficial national anthem (sorry Ross Wilson, but it’s true). The audience stayed on their feet for possibly the only song that almost makes me feel like I belong here. I am of course referring to Great Southern Land

Uniform was another stand out performance for me. It’s pretty easy to see why, though. Heavy drums, great bass, you can dance to it. One thing that I’ve realized around about now is that I have no idea what the lights show looked like. None. I guess the playing was so shit hot that I barely noticed any thing else and the next song was no exception

Don’t Believe Any More was perhaps my first favourite Icehouse song (I say that because now I have favourite band members- favourite songs are too hard to pick) . I was 17 or 18 at the time and this song summed so much up perfectly. In fact, it still does. It starts off beautiful and gentle.

First there is the suspense of not knowing what song will be next, then the joy of knowing that it’s this. It seems at first an odd choice in the middle of this set when something like Walls could so easily be in its place, but give it a chance. If you listen, really listen, you’ll realize a thing of beauty is occurring. Within this song the band manage to create a perfect moment – a build starting with keys and synth, gently layering drums and bass. Suddenly, part way through this little moment of bitter sweet perfection Paul Gildea comes along with that telecaster and punches it all in the guts, taking the song to a heartbreaking new level. This is followed with a change on singer (again Gildea). It’s another unexpectedly good move in my humble opinion and adds to the build up until all you hear is that sax solo by Glenn Reither at the end.

I’m not being obsequious, but perfection exists and that song is evidence of it. If you need a reason to see the show, this song is top of my list. Moving right along. In fact we did move right along – to something entirely different! Iva plugged Dubhouse (a CD which I must buy on Tuesday, apparently) and then played No Promises. Whilst some Icehouse fans didn’t go for it, I dig it. Then again, Reggae is my thing. Enough to get a Bob Marley related tattoo in fact. It sounded good, very good and I can’t wait to hear the cd with very loud bass.

The tempo was then changed again for Electric Blue. Somehow though, it all manages to fit. You cannot fault the song writing here and the performance more than does it justice. The vocals in this song stay just on the right side of mellifluous and the execution of the song was nothing short of flawless.

Speaking of vocals, Michael Paynter came out for a bit of a sing. Touch the fire was a much better fit for him than My Obsession, I think. It was good to finally hear it live, too.

One of my other live favourites and a big stand out from last year’s set is Cross The Border. It is a perfect example of the Wheeler/Bull rhythm machine in full flight and if you are still wondering why I think Steve Bull is the best bass player in Aus after hearing a live version of this song then I can only deduce that you have no taste or have misses the point entirely.

This was followed by a couple of biggies that invited plenty of audience participation – Can’t Help Myself and We Can Get Together. By this time the audience were well and truly up on their feet and who could blame them?

The final notes of We Can Get Together were still hanging in the air when the audience chant of “encore” began. The band answered with another Dubhouse selection – this time a meld of Walk On The Wild Side and Heartbreak Kid, which worked surprisingly well. It was time for more raw energy and it was delivered in the form of Nothing Too Serious. Before the audience knew it, the night was over and we were being lead out of The Palms at Crown.

In summary I could wax lyrical about the mastery that occurs when these six men take the stage together. However, this would be pointless. If you’ve seen the gigs, you know I’m right and the point is mute. If you haven’t then there is no adjective adequate to describe the utter beauty that a lucky few have witnessed – and they say there’s no such thing as perfection – Ha!

P.S Don Bradman had a batting average of 99.94, everyone is allowed one bum note.