PWEI were the last of the bands inside the Glasshouse where "Ween" and "Therapy?" had performed, next to the Olympic park stadiums, where the likes of "Faith No More", "Violent Femmes" and "Nine inch Nails" had played earlier. The hall was strewn with rubbish from the day, and on the stage a huge black backdrop with the "PWEI" logo printed in white was showing. The roadies were busy setting up the amps and tuning the Poppies' guitars with the colourful "Zap art" designs.
I stood up close to the barrier (a good 3 metres from the stage) and chatted with everyone and anyone wearing a "Skateboarder logo" t-shirt ... there were heaps around!
After a while, all the lights went down, and the sounds of a mutant version of "CPI#2" faded in, and the bass grew to a powerful rumble (where did they get this idea from, eh Mr. Reznor?!) Fuzz' cigarette and the power lights of the guitar amps were the only thing to be seen on stage ...
The music grew, and with a screech, Ich Bin Ein Auslander started. The lights came on and the crowd roared!
Clint was resplendent in black, black and more black (very grebo, once again!) with short red hair, and Graham in shorts and polo shirt - with shaven hair!
Richard had his usual solemn look on his face, doing a little bit of shoe gazing, while Adam was wearing a beanie, and had very obviously been taking lessons in keyboard techinque from Nine Inch Nails' keyboard players! I wonder if keyboard stands were made with people standing on them as a design consideration?!
Before too long, the girls in front of me on the fence became a little distressed at the action around them, and jumped over and were escorted to the side of the hall. A front row view was mine!
During the show, Clint and Graham tried a little body slamming, but were something out of time and nearly did each other damage - but were laughing hard at their attempts, nonetheless!
Most of their album "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos" was played during the dozen song set, and the last song of the gig was "Everything's Cool?". At the opening guitar riff, the crowd pogo'd in a frenzy, doing all the appropriate finger gestures to the chorus ... 1 finger to "One by One", "Peace" to "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos", and then "Up Yours" to "Everything's Cool?"!
I did want to type up all the between-song comments that Clint and Graham came up with ... but my memory's a little short now! Hmmm:
During "MeNoFearTheReaper", a crowd-surfer was thrown onto the stage (what's new?!) then stood up and took a quick run around before his dive, risking GBH from the security. This promted Graham to sing .. "HE no fear, no fear.."!
The following review comes to you courtesy of Melissa Mauchline (formerly BC7MAM@fs2.ballarat.edu.au):
8:30pm on a cold and wet Easter Monday in Melbourne sees a horde of Pop Will Eat Itself fans fill the Central Club Hotel, Richmond, in order to see the incredible PWEI play their only Melbourne gig.
Sydney band, Insurge, complete a set full of samples, heavy bass, incessant drumming, flying dredlocks and a resonant kitchen sink. After telling an impatient crowd to "Fuck you, we like the Poppies too, and we've seen them four times, so you can get fucked!", Insurge depart the stage to the echoing of the kitchen sink.
An impatient crowd chanting "P. W. E.. I., P. W.. E.. I., P. W. E.. I., P. W.. E.. I." cheer as the lights eventually go down, and Fuzz strolls on stage. Each Poppie, Rich, Ad and Gray, then receives a deafening welcome as they nonchalantly appear on stage in turn. The opening chords to 'Ich Bin Ein Auslander' start as Clint appears, sporting sunnies and a stunning pink hair-do! (Take a look at Richard's photos - see what I mean!) The crowd goes wild, and within seconds the first stage diver appears and disappears into the depths of the mosh.
This frenzied surfing continues to the strains of "R. S. V. P., R. S. V. P.", and starts to wane during 'Fatman'. However, as soon as Gray picks up the megaphone that has been conspiciously siting on the stage next to Fuzz's drum kit, it starts again, and there wouldn't have been a Poppie fan that didn't (at some stage) join in on the infamous "She loves me, she loves me not." of 'Wise Up Sucker!'. (I've since discovered that Miles Stuffie did backing vocals on that song - what a surprise, and indeed an added bonus!)
Throughout the rest of their set - which mainly consists of songs from 'Dos Dedos... ' and 'The Looks...' (see Richard's set list, besides getting his photos, he also got Rich Poppie's copy of the set list!), PWEI prove themselves to be the accomplished musicians that we all believe them to be, as they each change instruments on a relatively regular basis. Clint takes up ye olde accoustic guitar for 'Mother', as Rich swaps between bass and guitar, and Ad swaps between guitar and synth. Even Gray disappears behing the sampler/synth occasionally.
The final song of the set, 'Everything's Cool', sparks the mosh back to life, and probably looks not unlike the clip, except on a smaller scale (obviously). Pop Will Eat Itself disappear to wolf-whistles and enthusiastic cheering.
Determined not to let the Poppies go without playing some more, the crowd once again start chanting "P. W. E.. I., P. W.. E.. I.". The Poppies wait a while before appearing again in pretty much the same manner as before, and Clint picks up a guitar to start 'Menofearthereaper'. The crowd are satisfied. Ecstatic is the best way to describe the reaction to 'Def Con One', and the mosh revives yet again - this time not abating until 'Karmadrome' is over, leaving fans completely exhausted.
With cameras flashing and lights flickering, Pop Will Eat Itself and the audience have danced, sung and sweated their way through an unforgettable set which has left the crowd of Poppies fans totally satiated - for now. For even as the crowd disperses there are the echoing comments... "I can't wait to see them next time..."
Fuck the Moral Majority Preaching To The Perverted, they can do the Dance Of The Mad Bastards, because like The Beat That Refused To Die PWEI are England's Finest. Can U Dig It?
Lastly, I dig:
Created 19th April, 1995. More real soon!