1996-03-22 - Suiciety @ Oxide, Commercial Road, Prahran

For a long time I'd forgotten exactly when and where this gig was. All I had recorded was "Oxide" which isn't helpful as that is the name of a nightclub which moved quite a bit in Melbourne. I think I've settled on it being in Prahran at the time, on Commercial Road. The date I rediscovered by some newspaper clippings I'd squirrelled away in a book, only recently found.

I'd been a fan of Suiciety for a short while, having recently bought their TCP single, and Cell EP.

My sister took me along to this gig, my first at a licensed venue. She fed me beer and I promptly got drunk, having not consumed alcohol at all before.

I don't remember there being many people there. I stood right at the front and sang along, and was likely laughed at by the rest of the crowd.

I had a great time. I never saw Suiciety again.

Unfortunately Suiciety broke up shortly after releasing Cell, this which saddened me no end at the time. They're back now though, check them out on Bandcamp. I haven't managed to catch them live again yet... one day.

Poster borrowed from Suiciety on Facebook

Setlist from the night grabbed by my drunken self

1996-10-11 - Meat Loaf @ Entertainment Centre, Melbourne

A friend of mine broke up with their partner, who had bought them tickets to see Meat Loaf...

So I got to go for free.

I like Meat, but I wasn't a fan. My friend was a fan.

Very fan. So fan.

My main memory of the gig is said friend screaming through the whole thing.

Meat was on fire, this was back when he could still sing. I joked a few times that "hadn't he already played this song?" but it was pretty enjoyable.

The inflatable Satan was excellent.

1995-01-26 - The Truth @ Swanston Walk

The Truth played in the city for Australia Day. I remember the stage being in Swanston Walk but now thought Bourke Street Mall more likely, however I found an old The Age article on newspapers.com which referred to the Triple M Rock Rig being setup on "the walk" so perhaps my memory is correct.

I was never 100% sure if this was 1994 or 1995 but almost certain it's 1995.

Mik and I travelled in, positioned ourselves up front and watched with awe.

The band thought it amusing they were there for Australia Day as only one of the members was Australian. I remember Geoff Wells (guitar) broke a string at the end of Can't Help It but did well to cover it until the end of the song.

Setlist:
Tables Are Turning
Can't Help It
Too Late
Secrets
Choices
Peak It!
My Heavy Friend

We found this setlist (as drawn on the back of a water bottle label) on the day but this isn't exactly what was played. I wrote down the list as above.

1994 late - Caligula @ Virgin Megastore, Bourke Street, Melbourne

One day in I presume to be 1994, Mik and I travelled to the city to see Caligula play a short in-store gig at Virgin Megastore on Bourke Street.

Details of when this was have faded completely from my mind, but I remember they had the new single "So Fine" on sale for signing, and that single was released in November 1994, so I'm guessing around then.

I've tried to research the exact date of the gig but either it wasn't advertised in the newspapers or I've been unlucky in finding it. I'll keep searching. Oh how I ache for decent searchable archives of recent history...

The band set up way at the back of the store. We were there early enough to see them setup, where I learned to my disappointment much of the guitar work was sampled.

I think they played maybe four songs? Mik taped the gig on a little portable tape recorder but the quality was awful and I stupidly taped over it one day. I wish I still had that awful quality tape, if only to know exactly what they played. I'm an idiot.

I bought a copy of the So Fine single and got it signed. I still have it...

I didn't hear much from Caligula after this, and I later learned they broke up. Some members went on to form the excellent Primary, who's second album "Watching the World" is well work tracking down.

1994-11-26 - End of Year Party @ Festival Hall, Melbourne

My second gig was the very 1994 lineup of "End of Year Party" - The Truth, CBD, Tina Arena, Kulcha, The Sharp, Chocolate Starfish.

Looking at the ticket, the event appears to have been an all-ages charity event for Ronald McDonald House. The ticket also reminds me that we had seated tickets, but we ignored that and ran into the middle of general admission as soon as we got there.

My friend Mik and I attended to see The Sharp, with the added bonus of the recently discovered The Truth. We had zero interest in the other acts.

We were one of the few fans of The Truth from memory. Most of the crowd were not interested. We'd recently discovered them and had bought their album and knew all the words. We must have been very annoying. I remember they didn't play particularly well compared to the previous time, but I may be misremembering how great they were the first time.

CBD were from all evidence a horrible boy band so we didn't expect much. They were exactly as expected, but I have a strong memory of their bass player playing a fantastic funk solo in the middle of the set, which earned a grudging round of applause from us.

During Tina Arena's set the guy in front of us kept yelling about Mickey Mouse or something (likely confusing Young Talent Time...) - during this rant Mik threw a bottle on stage, which resulted in us being swiftly evicted from the venue.

So blissfully we missed Kulcha while we wondered off and got a drink.

We sat out front and sang loudly along when The Sharp started. The bouncers eventually got sick of us and let us back in with a slap on the wrist.

The Sharp were fantastic. It was hard to see, and I was pathetic and scared of the mosh, but the crowd pogo'd like maniacs which the band loved. It was all over far too quick, my strongest memory being the moment at the start of Train of Thought where Piet comes out from behind the drumkit to use his sticks on the double-bass while Alan rides it... Great stuff.

Chocolate Starfish were pretty terrible. The singer kept sticking his microphone down his pants. It wasn't something we were interested in so we left early.

1994-10-15 - Where 2 Be? @ Festival Hall, Melbourne

The first gig I ever attended was a four band spectacular at Festival Hall. Attending with a couple of friends, we were there for Caligula and Hunters and Collectors. We'd never heard of The Truth and were barely concious of Baby Animals beyond some singles.

I remember going with my friend Mik, but my notes remind me another friend was there to. I'm guessing it was Emmanuel, but I'm not sure. I've completely forgotten... A lot of firsts that night. First time I remember coming to the city, first time out by myself late...

The Truth were absolutely amazing. The drum solo in Peak It blew our minds. Cow. Bell. I became a fan of the band that day, and arguably, of live music too. First gig in and I already thought seeing things live was better than the album.

Caligula were heaps of fun, but not many people in the crowd were fans. They're... odd. They used a lot of samples in an era that was frowned upon.

Baby Animals opened my mind. Suze DeMarchi rewrote my idea of what a front-person should be (at the time pretty much James Hetfield or go home). Her guitar playing was incredible and they sounded so ROCK, much harder than the album I later found on tape.

I thought I knew Hunters & Collectors but really I'd only heard a few singles and the "Cut" album. So I was a little lost through much of the gig to be honest. It was a long night too. I still had fun, and resolved to get more of their music.

No earplugs... My ears rang for a good two days after this gig, and I blame much of the tinnitus I have today on this gig.

Pre-Gig History

My great-grandfather was a bugler in WWI. He quickly signed up as a soldier once in Europe. Thus ended the entire musical history of my family.

OK, it's not that dramatic. My mum saw the Beatles when they were in Australia ("all I heard was screams") - my sister played clarinet in high-school. My parents liked music but a small subset (John Farnham, some musicals). I'm sure there was other musical interest in the family, but I'm not aware of it...

I learned recorder in Primary School like most Australian kids my age. I only got as far as every-good-boy-deserves-fruit regarding music reading. There was a Casio keyboard in the house and I used to love playing with it, making up songs. Some combinations of notes sounded right, some didn't. Putting the right ones together were a song. There was a lot of joy in that.

My school made much use of the "Sing!" range of music books and tapes from the ABC. I used to adore the time singing along with these, going as far as requesting one of them for a gift for using at home. I believe they're weren't easy to obtain but my parents indulged. I don't think it ever occurred to me that the songs were "covers", or what a "cover" even meant.

On being gifted a Commodore 64 I discovered the joy of chiptunes. The music of Commando and Great Giana Sisters and hundreds of other games I can't think of now seeped into my soul. I somehow ended up with some examples of the demo-scene. I loved the music so much I'd transfer it to tape to listen to on my Walkman.

Later, in high school, I discovered you could borrow CDs from video stores (before this was banned) and I'd borrow "100% Hits" and "Hit Machine" compilations, cherry-picking the best songs to put on tape.

Up until around year 9 my music taste was fairly boring. Pop based. Heavy on the top of the charts, especially lame techno like "2 Unlimited" or "Snap". Around this time my mum's friend's son (who was a few years older than me) opened up his CD collection to me. He suggested some albums I might like. He was mostly into rock and metal. Through him I first heard Metallica, Ministry, Soundgarden, Nirvana...

I remember a particular tape I made from the radio. I don't know what the show was but I'm fairly certain it was Triple M. I captured Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam", Nirvana's "Lithium", Guns'n'Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" - some other songs I wish I could remember... Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" was on there... as well as some nonsense like The Movement's "Jump" and Kris Kross.

I discovered around year 10 or 11 that the local library allowed me to borrow CDs. That's where I first heard Metallica's "Master of Puppets", and everything clicked into place. Apparently I loved metal and rock. Apparently "metal" and "rock" were words that meant something. Genres.

I still loved crappy computer music though, and 90s techno is forever linked with my old gaming history. I will forever connect the game Flashback with Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer". Our family got a modem (14.4k!) and I discovered MOD files on BBS. Again I hardly realised the majority of these were covers. I remember being really surprised hearing Axel F was an actual song when I saw it in a movie, and even more shocked to discover it had a music video.

Year 11 saw me attempting to learn the guitar. I bought a second hand guitar/amp combo from the neighbour and started making demo tapes of riffs. I discovered how to render the notes in a MID or MOD file and I'd transpose those to guitar tab to learn riffs.

I discovered Triple J, and more importantly, Live At The Wireless. I'd tape them, and discover bands. I'd listen to the live tapes more than the albums. The albums started to sound weird compared to the live versions. Faith No More, Pearl Jam, Regurgitator, Smashing Pumpkins, various Australian bands...

I became obsessed. Joined the tape trading scene. My mission was usually to get a live version of every song. I'd trade for a tape just to hear the live version of one song.

Then in 1994 I went to my first gig...