HOODOO GURUS Live at The Beach To Bush Festival, Perth – 17th November 2012

With Something With Numbers, Big Old Bears & Dead Owls
Wanneroo Showgrounds, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar | Photography by Michael Moran Photography

The City of Wanneroo threw a big ole party to celebrate their BEACH TO BUSH FESTIVAL, drawing around 15 thousand people to the Wanneroo Showgrounds on our hottest day in some time.

With the two third full grounds resplendent with picnicking families, BIG OLD BEARS assembled onstage for a set of folky tunes that were saved from dirgedom by the brightness of Nathalie Pavlovic’s vocals.

Melbourne’s Something With Numbers were next up in perfect conditions as the sun set behind them, and they regaled the pretty full crowd with their instantly enjoyable FM radio-ready melodic indie rock.  What Is Love was a highlight, getting a lot of the kids up and dancing, and several new songs bode well for their forthcoming album.

Wanneroo’s Lady Mayor introduced the headliners as the “Hoodoo Guroos” in her Mancunian accent, but no-one seemed to care as both kids and grown-ups alike started dancing and singing along.

The last time we caught the Hoodoos they played their debut album “Stoneage Romeos” in its entirety with a few surprises tacked on at the end, so it was a pleasure as night covered the grounds to enjoy them rocking an almost 90 minutes greatest hits set.

Even though a community event like this will never be entirely geared towards the headliners, the band played to their crowd without compromise – thrilling those who were here for them, and entertaining the older kids and families who were just looking for an excuse for an evening out, even if frontman Dave Faulkner seemed almost nervously apologetic in some song introductions.

Asking for requests at one point early in the set, they launched into Leilani, giving Brad Shepherd a chance to rip out some fiercely rocking guitar to accompany Mark Kingsmill’s tribal beat and Faulkner & the faithful’s “UMGOWA” chants.

A cracking Miss Freelove ’69 followed, and oh the irony seeing young Mums dancing with their 5-10 year olds to this swinging track!

Faulkner introduces A Thousand Miles Away as “a song which sounds better in the outdoors than in a smoky bar” and he’s dead right – it’s a wide open and wistful rendition of one of their most endearing compositions.

The main set is rounded out by raucous blasts through What’s My Scene and I Was A Kamikaze Pilot, both seeing the faithful dancing like loons, while even those unfamiliar with the band and content to lounge on picnic rugs were mostly tapping heads and feet.

The encore saw Faulkner apologetic again – “Sorry we can’t do every song we know”, yet you feel he’d like to if he thought people would stick around.

My Girl and the wonderful bluegrass-psych of album track Hayride To Hell led to closer Like Wow, Wipeout!, always guaranteed to get everyone pogoing around, and then the families filed out, smaller kids sleeping on Dad’s shoulders, bigger kids thrilled at seeing what might have been their first concert, and everyone happy after a lovely day out.

If this is how we share the music we love from 20 or even 30 years ago with our kids, then more of it, I say!

Set List:
Use By Date
I Want You Back
The Right Time
Dressed In Black
Death Defying
Leilani
Miss Freelove ‘69
Bittersweet
Come Anytime
Cracking Up
A Thousand Miles Away
What’s My Scene
I Was A Kamikaze Pilot

My Girl
Hayride To Hell
Like Wow, Wipeout!

 

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Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries