KINGS of the underage scene of the ’90s; The Meanies and Tumbleweed united at a venue that hasn’t been thought of for that calibre of band in a long while; The Central Club, Richmond.
On walking into the venue, the sonic wall of sound from THE ELECTRIC GUITARS, arrow headed itself, and tapped deep into the psyche of the soul. Bathed in a swirling light show, it was a step back into the radical age of experimental rock’n’roll of the early ’60s.
Straight up after them, SEEDY JESUS took the stage with their psych explosion of garage rock. It was a splendid adventure through their set; a great act to seek out in 2014.
The room swells with punters excited to hear, dance and sing along to the Melbourne punk rock heroes THE MEANIES. They have existed in our music scene here in Australia for close to 25 years. They are the product of hard work: BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS.. Literally!
The energy is ramped up to a level of insanity! Frontman Link claiming and owning the stage, dancing like a madman determined to break everything in his path. Playing all the classics from their catalogue, starting off with ‘Just What You Need’, through to ‘Mr Authority’, ‘Dr Seuss’, then into the most accessible song of 1995, ‘10% Weird’. Energy and vitality still exist within their tunes; possibly one of the most tightest sets played, in a long time.
Looking around, the room was filled with faces and long lost memories of the decade that was have embraced yet again; this show was not only for the nostalgic punters, but also for the bands playing on the line up.
Tumbleweed took to the stage, opening up with the first track off their stellar new release Sounds From The Other Side, Mandelbrot.
The opening fuzzed out galataphonic chords to be driven from the PA, pushed the boundaries of our minds in so many different directions.
Three songs in, their new single, ‘Nightowl’ tantalised our senses. Then dancing with the ideas of mixing old and new together, ‘Carousel’, ‘Dandy Longlegs’, ‘Hang Around’ and the mind-blowing tune from 1992, ‘Sundial’. Each song had been meticulously chosen from the vaults to wet our pallets.
The Weed, proud of their long and illustrious history, played all the hits everyone wanted to hear. They are back, fresh, radiant, revitalised and extremely energised. They certainly are a band that played a such a huge part in the Aussie Underground culture. Spawning from ‘The Gong’, their sound surfaced with a delicate surf, earth and mystical connection, complemented with a background of a psychedelic bass lines, fuzzed rhythm guitars, and draped with hard hitting drums.
All photos by Mandy Campbell
