20 October 2024 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Cody-James Henderson – pictures by Bec Harbour
Man, I never thought I’d see the day I got to cover a Big Day Out festival, let alone seeing it return in this economy. The vast line ups of all things alternative from across the globe, tens of thousands of punters sweltering away in the summer heat. The endless queueing for food and toilets where either one is as filthy as the other. Man oh man it just feels so good knowing that Big Day Out is finally ba…..
Wait. You’re only now just telling me this isn’t Big Day Out? That it’s just 5 acts that were a part of that scene in 90s/00s? Some of which haven’t played a single show since well before the festival went belly up but I still have to queue for the bathroom? Fuck. Anyways! In a development that no one saw coming this decade let alone ever again, TISM have returned with more than just a festival weekender performance and a brand new album to match!
And what’s even crazier, is that they’ve managed to revive The Mavis’s and the only other band as controversial as them, Machine Gun Fellatio. Rounding out this alternative wet dream are Eskimo Joe and Ben Lee (see, you can absolutely see why I thought BDO was here, don’t judge me). The self proclaimed “Will go down in Australian music history” show kicks off the Death To Art tour, the first official TISM tour in just over 2 decades. So dust off your balaclavas, stretch out your calves for some choreography and don’t forget to keep the painkillers on standby, it’s time for a party.
The Mavis’s: The eerie and awkward silence of a PA not playing songs between acts is silenced by the first of 2 unofficial official reunions taking place tonight. First up, The Mavis’s. Reuniting with official members for the first time in just over 6 years, the Melbournian post punk act are welcomed back warmly (and that’s not just because of the Brisbane heat) Not before tearing down half of TISMs “death to art’ banner, Becky Thomas decked out in bright pink and accompanying tambourine, the beginning of the self proclaimed “tour to go down in Australian history’ has begun.
The Mavis’s – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Only electing to be perform one warm up show leading up to the event (see, that’s how you do it TISM) just 2 days before the show, you wouldn’t believe the time apart that The Mavis’ have had. Only plagued with minor sound issues which saw the drums awfully quiet, this wasn’t just a ‘we’ll see what happens’ show. The Mavis’s put in all the effort to make the nostalgic appearance feel like new.
“We played here with Green Day in 1998. We got stuff thrown at us but so did Green Day so it’s okay” the slowly filling Riverstage seemed to really enjoy hearing that. After busting out a hit in ‘Lever’ the band announced that a brand new single would be coming out soon entitled ‘Heaven’. It’s charming harmony work of the Thomas siblings enhanced with grooves of the rhythm section keeps ‘Heaven’ a refreshing new direction for the band but also tickles the fancy of the old school fans. Fans became more lively when ‘Cry’ and ‘Naughty Boy’ worked their way to the set. But sadly, that was the end. It’s rewarding to know that The Mavis’s have elected to release new music in the near future, as this shouldn’t be the last we hear of them anytime soon. A wonderful trip down memory lane to set the tone for the evening.
BEN LEE: If you’re anything like me, when you saw Ben Lee’s name on a line up with TISM, you were probably thinking to yourself; “What in the world? This doesn’t make any sense at all?” Truth be told however, this would be a perfect addition to an already bizarre time. ‘Cigarettes will Kill You’ opened the night, and you could hear a collective “Ahhh” from the audience realising who they were seeing. A voice the dominated Australian Radio through the 2000’s and had the unofficial Covid 19 anthem even 15 years after said song released (but we will get to that later).
Ben Lee – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
“I’m getting Homebake 99 vibes here tonight” Man I wish Triple J was still promoting these kind of events. Incorporating the verse “I stole TISMs balaclavas cause I saw them hanging backstage on a special rack and gave them to my nanna, yeah” into the bridge of ‘Into The Dark’ you immediately realise how at home Ben Lee is on a line up like this. Especially with his self descriptive song ‘Arsehole’ giving the crowd a giggle at the repetitive telling of how much of an arsehole Ben was (and still is – his words, not mine). Giving the crowd a moment or a “30 second interlude” to be able to take their drugs while the sun was still up, after realising at a wedding the reason why he wasn’t on many festivals was because he “has too many lyrics and not enough material to take drugs too” before a moving rendition of ‘Something Borrowed, Something Blue’ before a out of time mistake costs the intro of ‘Catch My Disease’ but no egos are on display as Ben simply laughs it up calling himself and backing band “mistakeists”. The level of unity in the crowd is just wonderful considering how often this song was played to death at points (here’s looking at you Covid) Changing the final verse to pay tribute to MGF, TISM and Amyl & The Sniffers being on the radio, but acknowledging they don’t play him anymore. But that’s the way he likes it apparently.
If you have any doubts about Ben being a downer on such a party filled line up, remove them from your mind. Ben Lee’s short appearance is a lasting impression on just how colourful the man is as a song writer and performer.
ESKIMO JOE: To the marching beat of the imperial theme of Star Wars, here comes Eskimo Joe. One of Australia’s finest and most successful rock bands this country has ever produced. And what better way to prove that than with ‘Sarah’ one of the bands most recognised tracks from their decorated discography. From its very first beats, the crowd knows exactly what they’re in for and they’re here to let the band know it. It’s all systems go from the very first moment when Eskimo Joe hit the ground running. With ‘New York’ following, it’s hard to believe that we’re slowly approaching 20 years of ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ an album that was monumental in my upbringing as well Aus Rock history.
Eskimo Joe – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
And as much as they could just fill the setlist with that album, it doesn’t stop them throwing in ear worms like ‘Foreign Land’ and latest single ‘The First Time’ in between the big hits. The dapper gentlemen from Fremantle, WA cannot be restrained by their formalities, utilising decades of showmanship to be equally engaging as performers as they are musicians. Laughing at the audience between tracks as they beg for ‘Sweater’ noting that the band has two pieces of equally hilarious merchandise for sale (a sweater that simply says ‘Sweater’ and a T Shirt that says ‘Not a Sweater’) But in the midst of the tidy attire, comes chipped nail polish. It’s time for ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’. This song was and still is a cultural phenomenon and is one of the first ever songs I considered to be my all time favourite, and I’ll never grow tired of hearing it. And as the Riverstage hits near capacity, I don’t think anyone here tonight will either.
‘Sweater’ sees the group return to the original 3 piece the band was founded on, as well as the only 4 chords they knew before rounding out one hell of an energetic set with ‘From the Sea’ the career defining hit that has kept fans coming back for decades. Extending it out to just an acapella performance, it feels that Eskimo Joe are still at the very top of their game. And you couldn’t knock them down even if you tried.
MACHINE GUN FELLATIO: Reuniting for the first time in 19 years (if you discredit a surprise pop up warm up show in Newcastle earlier in the month) comes the 2nd biggest reunion no one ever expected in the Australian bizarro scene. Seriously, what are the odds? To a massive ovation and full disclaimer of language, strobe lighting and Nudity? Welcome back Machine Gun Fellatio. “Speaking of Sex and Overrated, here’s a song I want to sing for you” says KK Juggy, in all her operatic glory. Here is ‘Dirty Fucking Whore’ and my word, you’ve not seen anything like it (Unless you were around 20 years ago). Chit Chat is bare-assed and doing push ups, 3kShort is grooving away, Brian Ferrysexual is blasting hard, Loveshark has LED strips binding his legs. It’s an MGF show alright.
Machine Gun Fellatio – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After blasting through ‘The Girl of my Dreams is Giving me Nightmares’ Chit Chat let the photographers know that they can stay the entirety of their set, revoking the usual 3 song rule. ‘Line of Silver’ brings a full hula hoop circus display to the stage complete with pyrotechnics raining from the ceiling and arising from the ground. ‘Rollercoaster’ gives me my first “holy fuck this is who sings this song” moment of the evening.
The impending party that follows is indescribable, very much a ‘you had to be there’ moment. 19 years is a long time for anything (hell I was 7 when the band last played a show) but apparently, it’s not long enough for a band to lose their step or ability to play. Juggy comes back out to give us ‘Motherfucker on a Motorcycle’ decked out as a tambourine playing nun before stripping it all off and showing us everything. And I mean everything. No one said this was going to be a family friendly show, but when I heard that everything was going to be on show tonight, it’s safe to say I wasn’t expecting that. “This is a song I wrote by mistake” and the crowd erupts. ‘My ex GF’ isn’t just a ballad for the evening, it’s THE ballad of the evening. But it isn’t slow for long as ‘The Growing’ opens the dancefloor, as does ‘Bestfriend’.
Machine Gun Fellatio – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
And as you watch along, you don’t consider the money that may have brought MGF outta retirement, but instead the sheer amount of joy the unit is having being back after all this time. ‘Pussytown’ gives us a backdrop of cats filling the screen and 2 leathered up ladies seductively making their way from member to member. I’ve seen children here tonight, so shoutout to the parents that are either covering eyes or preparing for that car ride home tonight. The elegance of putting a show to accompany the vast creativity of music is astounding… but a grown man in a cod piece thong is something I’m not used too at all.
As ‘Pantyliner’ closes out one of the most impressive sets of 2024, I’m left wondering if this is the only opportunity to see MGF. It’s only early days yet I suppose, but I truly hope the band considers their own tour in the future. Melbourne and Sydney, make sure you hit the show early for this one. You won’t regret it.
TISM: “When Kyle Sandilands dies…” is one hell of an opening statement from the bright red, Mohawk sporting masked hoodlums. “From death… to art.” Bouncing off each other like toddlers looking to sumo wrestle, ‘’l’ll ‘ave Ya” turns the Riverstage into a jumping castle. And as the kabuki drops, a mountain of scaffolding covers the stage. Painters fill the levels partaking in their art. What are they painting? Who knows and who cares? TISM are here to put Death to Art.
TISM – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
‘I Drive a Truck’ and ‘Whatareya?’ sees Humphrey throw himself into the crowds, losing his Mohawk and half a mask in the process, breaking his Good Things Brisbane record of 6 songs. But that doesn’t stop him rejoining the incredible choreography efforts, movements that are replicated by the Wankers and Yobs who have been here once or twenty times before.
It’s good to see that the “10 million bucks” that Good Things paid the band to get back together weren’t wasted and instead put back into the performances the band are synonymous (or infamous) for. Just weeks ago, TISM released their aptly named ‘Death To Art’ album; their first album in 2 decades. As the renamed ‘Cazzo’ (shortened from The C Word. If you’re game enough and around a family of Italians, make sure you say that one nice and loud) and ‘Everybody needs somebody to hate’ it’s not taken long for these songs to become embedded in the minds of the generations in attendance. But if the classics are what you’re in attendance for (or maybe you’ve lived under a rock and didn’t even know TISM had a new album after all) then ‘Mistah Elliot’ and ‘Saturday Night Palsy’ will fill the existential void.
“99% of Art is shit. 99% of the rich are shit, and the rest of us are cunts”. The band vacates the stage from here as something clearly isn’t going to plan. This doesn’t stop the crowd from a soccer chant of “TISM are shit” to fill the space between the unknown. As the band returns to jump into the crowd, everything goes back up and running for ‘Old Skool TISM’ bringing with them a complete horns section. Punters in the front are kicked out for attempting to unmask Humphrey, ruining a great experience for those who’ve waited out the afternoon to party with the band. A shame. But it doesn’t throw the band of their game for ‘40 Years – Then Death’.
TISM – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
As ‘I’m Interested in Apathy’ crosses the sign boards, grown men with the worst back and knee pain you could think of begin dancing up a ruckus, like all the pain in their body had disappeared. And it continues into ‘Greg, The Stop Sign’ as they now remove their respective shirts showing their respective stop signs to the thousands in attendance. The addition of the horns section breathes new life into the original classic ‘Death Death Death’ along with the new life of the band. For a band that has been doing this since the 80s, and are still completing sets with full choreography; it’s admirable. It’s novel, it’s unique if you will. “That River song was wrong, but I’m still gonna sing it strong” is a line from the latest TISM album. But it’s also the truest statement the band have ever released (well maybe except for how jovial Martin Scorsese is) but the ballistic nature of the singalong for ‘He’ll Never Be an Old Man River’ was worth the price of admission alone.
Changing up the back end of the set, a country version of ‘Defecate’ starts as normal but quickly turns into a hoedown. The band has been throwing the artworks that were worked on in the scaffolding, which were quickly being torn apart by the crowd like predators jumping on prey. ‘70s Football’ concludes the Death to Art portion of the set, but it wouldn’t be a TISM set without a true ending, and no ending is as complete as several thousand people screaming at the top of their lungs… “DEFECATE ON MY FACE” but with that, the first show of the first official TISM tour in 20 years has concluded. In world where it’s ’Rockstar vs Critic’ I wish I could play on both sides. But tonight I have to ditch my balaclava for my uniform. But it’s not all dismal.
If we are still on the terms of ‘TISM is Shit’ then shit has really become good all of a sudden. This almost miniature Big Day Out was a spectacle to behold. From its entertaining musical premise to its outrageous and downright in your face attitudes, I think we can safely forgive TISM and friends for being away for so long. Art is shit, but TISM? Yeah they’re shit too. But as they say; “But who the fuck isn’t?”
