Concert Review – 9/24/2009 Melbourne, AU
Aug 14, 2010 19:03:31 GMT -5
Post by earthfarm on Aug 14, 2010 19:03:31 GMT -5
Here's a review I did after seeing Shonen Knife live at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, Melbourne on September 24, 2009. Enjoy!
“When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysteric nine year-old girl at a Beatles concert.” That’s a 1992 quote from Kurt Cobain, and he was talking about Shonen Knife, who were one of his favourite bands. It was because of him that they became one of my favourite bands too – to date they remain the only band who I have bought a CD of without hearing any of the songs or what they even sound like (Happy Hour). And now, ten years after I first heard that album, and after buying no less than 19 of their CDs, I finally got to see them live too.
Arriving early, I took a seat on the secondary stage next to a Japanese guy, and while I was sitting there waiting, the three members of Shonen Knife came in from the same front entrance, talked for a few seconds with the Japanese guy (omggg shonen knife r standing nxt 2 me!!! etc), then went backstage. I recognized them, but I don’t think anyone else did. One of them, Etsuko I think, was wearing one of those white masks over her mouth.
After the two opening acts I moved up to the front of the stage where all the SLR-toting hardcore had staked positions. Finally the intro track ‘Mango Juice’ began playing, the curtains opened and Shonen Knife, wearing the outfits from the Super Group album cover, appeared through the smoke holding up small black towels with the words ‘Shonen Knife, Osaka Japan’ on them.
They took their positions. I was closest to Naoko’s side of the stage. The set opener, ‘Konnichiwa’, was blisteringly loud – this time I was standing directly beneath the speakers. By now, everyone was packed towards the front of the stage. Not too far from me were about fifteen crazy yet devoted fans who, to their credit, started a mini mosh-pit and kept it going for the entire show.
Naoko said how glad they were to be back in Melbourne, and there was a big cheer when she introduced the next song, ‘Twist Barbie’, the oldest song in the setlist and proof that there were plenty of fans there who were familiar with their ‘80s material. The playing was tight, the drums were huge, and the energy was high, as well as the enthusiasm – this was the band’s first show in Australia since 1997.
‘Flying Jelly Attack’ was next, one of my favourites from my uni days. After the song, Naoko said “We are very happy…it’s our first time to come to Melbourne in 12 years!” She then introduced the other members, Etsuko and then Ritsuko. Ritsuko said “It’s my first time to come to Australia.” There were wild cheers, and several people yelled out “Welcome!” Then she added “So I’m very exciting right now!” More cheers, and a few laughs. As everyone knows, line-up changes sometimes don’t go down well with fans and Shonen Knife has had a few in their time, but Ritsuko was a crowd favourite. The mosh-pit was closest to her, and you could tell she was enjoying the show, because she was smiling the whole time.
“We’d like to play the title song from our new album,” said Naoko before ‘Super Group’. As soon as the new album was mentioned, people in the mosh-pit started calling out “BBQ Party!”. Over the next few minutes there were several requests for them to play this song. ‘E.S.P.’ was next, and then ‘Johnny Johnny Johnny’, which Ritsuko sang, and did a fine job of it too. ‘Ah Singapore’ was next, another classic from the old days. At the end of it, Naoko said “So…now it’s spring, it’s getting warmer, and it’s time to eat outside.” People cheered, expecting ‘BBQ Party’ to come next, and indeed it did. The moshers were going crazy at the end of the song where the tempo speeds up, yelling out “Pig out, pig out, pig out!” along with Naoko.
After this came the song I was most eagerly awaiting – ‘Sushi Bar Song’. Naoko said “After you have eaten outside, then you can go and have sushi.” A big cheer went up. Naoko explained to everyone to sing along with the “going to a sushi bar” bit. “First four times, then in the middle, two times, and at the end, four times,” she said, and people chanted along before being asked to repeat. Naoko then asked the crowd what kind of sushi they liked. Someone yelled out “Eel!” and she said “I like eel too.” She turned to Etsuko and asked her “What kind do you like?” Etsuko thought for a minute and said “Salmon.” When Ritsuko was asked, she said “California roll,” amd Naoko replied “But this is Australia, not California!...So, are you ready to sushi?”
‘Explosion!’ came next and the mosh-pit showed no signs of slowing down. Etsuko was bashing away at the drums keeping up the frenetic pace and Ritsuko was wielding the bass like a pro, thrashing around with her long hair going everywhere (after nearly every song she had to wipe the back of her neck with the Shonen Knife towel). As for Naoko, she may have been doing this for 25 or so years, but the youthful exuberance is still there, even in those early songs. She started the next song ‘Muddy Bubbles Hell’ by saying “This is a ‘heavy metal chick’ song, like Judas Priest, or something.” This was followed by their Carpenters cover ‘Top Of The World’, which got a good singalong, then ‘Ramones Forever’.
Before the next song, Naoko asked “Do you believe in ‘pyramid power’?...If you put an apple inside a pyramid, it will never rot. Do you believe that?” There was a chorus of replies, more no’s than yes’s, then she added “That means, if you live inside a pyramid, you will never get aged.” Then they started ‘Pyramid Power’, a highlight being Ritsuko saying “Let’s go to the universe!” in the chorus. Before and after the song, Etsuko stood up and they struck the same pyramid pose from the Super Group fold-out sleeve.
‘Riding On The Rocket’ was next, one of the songs that a person had yelled out earlier in the set. Someone else had called for ‘Daydream Believer’ and quite a few people had called out for ‘Jackalope’, neither of which were played. The finale of the main set was ‘Giant Kitty’, a song with a heavy drum workout. The band left the stage, and quickly came back on, holding up their black towels. They played ‘Banana Chips’ and it was hands in the air again. Once again they left the stage, only to return and play their 18th and final song of the night, ‘Cobra Versus Mongoose’. During the slow parts, Etsuko stood up and held up her sticks in a V-shape, and in response, fists went up in the crowd making the horns salute. During the fast parts, the people bouncing around started crowd surfing. People were accidentally getting kicked in the face and they didn't care. As the song came to an end, Naoko and Ritsuko ran to opposite ends of the stage, held up their guitars, then stepped up onto the drum riser and jumped off to end the show.
Naoko thanked everyone for coming and said they would be signing autographs at the merchandise table. When I got my album autographed, Naoko said “Osaka!” which was written on my jumper. I told her that I went to Osaka last year. If only there had been time to tell her that I spent many days walking around my suburb delivering junk mail while listening to all her old songs on my Walkman!
by Pete C
“When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysteric nine year-old girl at a Beatles concert.” That’s a 1992 quote from Kurt Cobain, and he was talking about Shonen Knife, who were one of his favourite bands. It was because of him that they became one of my favourite bands too – to date they remain the only band who I have bought a CD of without hearing any of the songs or what they even sound like (Happy Hour). And now, ten years after I first heard that album, and after buying no less than 19 of their CDs, I finally got to see them live too.
Arriving early, I took a seat on the secondary stage next to a Japanese guy, and while I was sitting there waiting, the three members of Shonen Knife came in from the same front entrance, talked for a few seconds with the Japanese guy (omggg shonen knife r standing nxt 2 me!!! etc), then went backstage. I recognized them, but I don’t think anyone else did. One of them, Etsuko I think, was wearing one of those white masks over her mouth.
After the two opening acts I moved up to the front of the stage where all the SLR-toting hardcore had staked positions. Finally the intro track ‘Mango Juice’ began playing, the curtains opened and Shonen Knife, wearing the outfits from the Super Group album cover, appeared through the smoke holding up small black towels with the words ‘Shonen Knife, Osaka Japan’ on them.
They took their positions. I was closest to Naoko’s side of the stage. The set opener, ‘Konnichiwa’, was blisteringly loud – this time I was standing directly beneath the speakers. By now, everyone was packed towards the front of the stage. Not too far from me were about fifteen crazy yet devoted fans who, to their credit, started a mini mosh-pit and kept it going for the entire show.
Naoko said how glad they were to be back in Melbourne, and there was a big cheer when she introduced the next song, ‘Twist Barbie’, the oldest song in the setlist and proof that there were plenty of fans there who were familiar with their ‘80s material. The playing was tight, the drums were huge, and the energy was high, as well as the enthusiasm – this was the band’s first show in Australia since 1997.
‘Flying Jelly Attack’ was next, one of my favourites from my uni days. After the song, Naoko said “We are very happy…it’s our first time to come to Melbourne in 12 years!” She then introduced the other members, Etsuko and then Ritsuko. Ritsuko said “It’s my first time to come to Australia.” There were wild cheers, and several people yelled out “Welcome!” Then she added “So I’m very exciting right now!” More cheers, and a few laughs. As everyone knows, line-up changes sometimes don’t go down well with fans and Shonen Knife has had a few in their time, but Ritsuko was a crowd favourite. The mosh-pit was closest to her, and you could tell she was enjoying the show, because she was smiling the whole time.
“We’d like to play the title song from our new album,” said Naoko before ‘Super Group’. As soon as the new album was mentioned, people in the mosh-pit started calling out “BBQ Party!”. Over the next few minutes there were several requests for them to play this song. ‘E.S.P.’ was next, and then ‘Johnny Johnny Johnny’, which Ritsuko sang, and did a fine job of it too. ‘Ah Singapore’ was next, another classic from the old days. At the end of it, Naoko said “So…now it’s spring, it’s getting warmer, and it’s time to eat outside.” People cheered, expecting ‘BBQ Party’ to come next, and indeed it did. The moshers were going crazy at the end of the song where the tempo speeds up, yelling out “Pig out, pig out, pig out!” along with Naoko.
After this came the song I was most eagerly awaiting – ‘Sushi Bar Song’. Naoko said “After you have eaten outside, then you can go and have sushi.” A big cheer went up. Naoko explained to everyone to sing along with the “going to a sushi bar” bit. “First four times, then in the middle, two times, and at the end, four times,” she said, and people chanted along before being asked to repeat. Naoko then asked the crowd what kind of sushi they liked. Someone yelled out “Eel!” and she said “I like eel too.” She turned to Etsuko and asked her “What kind do you like?” Etsuko thought for a minute and said “Salmon.” When Ritsuko was asked, she said “California roll,” amd Naoko replied “But this is Australia, not California!...So, are you ready to sushi?”
‘Explosion!’ came next and the mosh-pit showed no signs of slowing down. Etsuko was bashing away at the drums keeping up the frenetic pace and Ritsuko was wielding the bass like a pro, thrashing around with her long hair going everywhere (after nearly every song she had to wipe the back of her neck with the Shonen Knife towel). As for Naoko, she may have been doing this for 25 or so years, but the youthful exuberance is still there, even in those early songs. She started the next song ‘Muddy Bubbles Hell’ by saying “This is a ‘heavy metal chick’ song, like Judas Priest, or something.” This was followed by their Carpenters cover ‘Top Of The World’, which got a good singalong, then ‘Ramones Forever’.
Before the next song, Naoko asked “Do you believe in ‘pyramid power’?...If you put an apple inside a pyramid, it will never rot. Do you believe that?” There was a chorus of replies, more no’s than yes’s, then she added “That means, if you live inside a pyramid, you will never get aged.” Then they started ‘Pyramid Power’, a highlight being Ritsuko saying “Let’s go to the universe!” in the chorus. Before and after the song, Etsuko stood up and they struck the same pyramid pose from the Super Group fold-out sleeve.
‘Riding On The Rocket’ was next, one of the songs that a person had yelled out earlier in the set. Someone else had called for ‘Daydream Believer’ and quite a few people had called out for ‘Jackalope’, neither of which were played. The finale of the main set was ‘Giant Kitty’, a song with a heavy drum workout. The band left the stage, and quickly came back on, holding up their black towels. They played ‘Banana Chips’ and it was hands in the air again. Once again they left the stage, only to return and play their 18th and final song of the night, ‘Cobra Versus Mongoose’. During the slow parts, Etsuko stood up and held up her sticks in a V-shape, and in response, fists went up in the crowd making the horns salute. During the fast parts, the people bouncing around started crowd surfing. People were accidentally getting kicked in the face and they didn't care. As the song came to an end, Naoko and Ritsuko ran to opposite ends of the stage, held up their guitars, then stepped up onto the drum riser and jumped off to end the show.
Naoko thanked everyone for coming and said they would be signing autographs at the merchandise table. When I got my album autographed, Naoko said “Osaka!” which was written on my jumper. I told her that I went to Osaka last year. If only there had been time to tell her that I spent many days walking around my suburb delivering junk mail while listening to all her old songs on my Walkman!
by Pete C
) ; I really felt as if I had been there; how long did they actually play?
), the better!!!!!!