Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Saturday 2 November 2019
Reviewer : Caitlin Martin
Photographer : Joshua South
Wandering in to the iconic Hordern Pavillion on a busy Saturday night in Sydney, I was pondering the last time I saw the Grinners, back in 2009 at Splendour, and further back in the early days at Homebake. The four piece Aussie heavy rock /post-grunge, originally from Lismore New in South Wales, have been beloved icons in the Aus alternative rock scene since their un-earthing on Triple J way back in 1995. A buzzing crowd of average age 40 year olds were milling around after the support bands in excited anticipation of what was to come. Two years after their Guide to Better Living Tour, this tour Grinspoon offered a mix of their extensive back catalogue – kind of a celebration of the impact this seminal rock band have had on the scene over the past 20 years.
The crowd pushed forward in anticipation as the time drew near, although I have to say, it was definitely a dickhead-free-zone. On they came – starting mercilessly with the blistering ‘DCx3’ followed by ‘Lost Control’ – two songs in and the sweatfest is already well underway! The band (good mates Jamieson on vocals/guitar, Davern- guitar, Hansen- bass and Hopes on drums) is as tight as ever and clearly tour-fit, as they proceed to unleash an array of punchy, gritty, heavy rock favourites – with massive crowd singalongs across the whole set. ‘Pedestrian’, ‘Just Ace’, ‘Sickfest’, ‘Ready One’: the grunty, punching beats and powerful riffs rolled on to the crowd’s utter delight.
Mid-way a handful of tracks from 99’s Easy, a nice touch with Jameson disappearing mid-instrumental to appear at the sound desk illuminated by a single spotlight for an acoustic sesh, ‘Sweet as Sugar’, ‘Rockshow’ and back on stage to ramp the sweat factor back up. So many songs to list I can’t even name them all, ‘Kills (Thrills & Sunday Pills)’, ‘Black Friday’, ‘No Reason’ – and their popular cover of INXS ‘Don’t Change’ – I was struggling to note them all down and rock out at the same time! The atmosphere stayed electric throughout the whole hour & 40 minute set, and the band members were clearly having the time of their lives as they put on a proud display of pure delicious rock goodness.
Jamieson is as much the starring frontman as he was back in the day, jumping off amps, never still for a second, and his voice in as fine form as ever.
We had to wait for encore for ‘Chemical Hearts’ and ‘Champion’, and the crowd was thumping, then they unleashed ‘More Than You Are’ – what an epic way to finish off the night! We were left totally exhausted and very much satisfied, and ever more certain of the legacy this band has left for the Aussie music scene.
Melting out into the night, we wiped away sweat and rubbed the odd bruise: That, ladies and gentlemen, was a bloody awesome rock show.
