1 December 2024 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures by Bec Harbour
Sunday night was another time for me to wheel the old frame out and go see a long overdue gig I’d wanted to see since I don’t know how long. In saying that I don’t think I was alone in this sentiment as Bob stated it had been 11 odd years since his last visit, and so was happy to bring his brand of noise back to our shores.
So Bob Mould for those who don’t know, is a pioneer of punk/hardcore (via Hüsker Dü) and power pop (Sugar) and is known to throw in pop melodies and topics beyond politics and dig into the things we all tend to go through. As an artist I think he has created a unique enough product that you know when you hear him it’s unmistakable and usually catchy to boot. Oh did I mention noisy?
Supporting Bob Mould tonight at the Triffid, was local artist Jack Bratt. Jack Bratt played a set of solo guitar driven music that I thought was cold sonically but warm due in part to the tempos and vocals. I had personally not heard of him before and from what I heard, I enjoyed his music – a fitting warm up for Bob. He was selling copies of his vinyl at the show and I will be checking out his music in the future.
Jack Bratt – The Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
For this tour Bob came out solo. No back up band. Just him and an amp and his Stratocaster guitar.
At first I was kinda apprehensive because I have enjoyed his music for so long I was excited to see what songs he was gonna do from the catalogue but I was not disappointed. He started off with ‘The War’, from the album Beauty and Ruin and I really like this song and album actually so we were off to a flyer from the get go.
Bob Mould – The Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
Up next was a Hüskers song ‘Flip Your Wig’ another favourite from an album of same name again from an album I really like. Next we got ‘I Apologise’ and onto the first Sugar song for the night ‘Hoover Dam’. The set was then filled up songs from across his solo years from 1989 through to now and we got some gems from the albums contained therein. ‘Sinners and Repentance’, ‘Next Generation’, ‘ The Descent’ all gave us a blasting and to be honest by this stage I had gotten used to the lack of a backing band and was thoroughly enjoying the noise that was a glimpse into the life of a man doing what he loves most.
There were songs in the set I didn’t know, but they sounded awesome regardless and was a reminder to check out the other works I’ve yet to, so as I write this I’m listening to a mix of all the solo albums and I’ll say consistency is big here.
Bob Mould – The Triffid – photos by Bec Harbour
‘Keep Believing’ and more Hüsker Dü songs like ‘Something I Learnt Today’, ‘Chartered Trips’, ‘Hardly Getting Over It’, and newer songs again like ‘The Ocean’ ‘Black Confetti’ and the final Sugar song ‘If I Can’t Change Your Mind’ wrap up the tail end of a set that was pretty much go go go from the moment he got stage there was no song name intros just noise and the odd interaction to say hello and ask for more light in case he fell over in the dark… for an older guy he has some energy and it shows through musically and on stage where for the last song it was ‘makes no sense at all’ and this was making the mostly older crowd yell and go crazy over what turned out to be quite a show by one of my favourite artists ever!
Bob Mould.Solo.Electric.Indeed.
