Tumbleweed - Waves Nightclub, Towradgi Beach Hotel, October 31, 2009

Right from the moment the doors opened, a long line of punters comprising a diverse range of size, shape, hair length and red eyes snaked back out into the car park. The 1450-capacity Waves was almost completely packed by the time second support act Hytest had completed their set of mostly shouting and swearing.

Darkness then descended across the venue and the anticipation rose. The blackness was broken by a bolt of strobe lights with an ominous Vincent Price-esque voice over of terror-tinged horror screaming, "It's Alive!" Three long-haired dudes and one slightly shorter-haired one then took to the stage, strapped on their strings, picked up sticks and started summoning sounds from the deep, dark recesses of time. Singer Richie Lewis was the last to join the fray, adding a voice to the chaos, writhing his way manically through their first track to kick things off. Tumbleweed had returned to earth. After offering genuinely awed thanks for everyone who was in attendance and how great it was to be back, then broke into 'Hang Around' and the place went berserk, '90s-style. A steaming, mangled flurry of moshing humanity broke out up front, spewing forth occasional offerings to the stage, riding atop the crest of the crowd to reach their destination, only to leap back trustingly into the mire. Lewis observing, "Stage diving, cool! I haven't seen that since 1996."

Tumbleweed were so potent and forceful you would never have known it was the band's first show after an almost decade-long hiatus, save for the extra allotted slots in the set for band drink breaks. While their sort of music - bloated with masses of swirling guitars and three-bong jams - isn't really being made today, it wasn't really being made by anyone else back then either. It's as luminously captivating as it ever was, whether it be the ecstatically throbbing build up to 'TV Genocide', the tender touches of 'Acid Rain' and 'Sundial', or the bubbling riffs of 'Gyroscope' and 'Nothin' to Do With the Weather' to the whole-crowd sing-along of 'Daddy Longlegs'.

This wasn't just a nostalgic trip, taking you back to better, younger times; it was potent, awesome music being played by an inspired band that was making tonight the best time of your life. Completely kick-arse and will scare the absolute shit out of some Jet fans at Homebake.

Andy Ryan
2 Nov 2009

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