Mojo - The Music Magazine

Episode 4: Grinderman v The Saints - it's a gnarl-off!

Friday, January 9th, Mount Buller, ATP Day 1

There are two stages at the Mt. Buller ATP festival: the Amphitheatre and the main stage, Bourke (rhymes with jerk). The Bourke stage is located on the actual "Bourke Street" piste, apparently Mt. Buller's primary ski run. The "real" Bourke Street, a major thoroughfare that runs right through Melbourne's Chinatown, is named for Sir Richard Bourke, an early governor of Melbourne much beloved for his humane reforms, particularly the "Magistrates Act" which limited the sentences magistrates could pass to an excessively lenient fifty lashes.

Anyway, it's 6PM, and a blinding setting sun pours down the slope directly onto the Bourke stage, which awaits the imminent arrival of "the mystery band". Who is this mystery band? Rumours were flying that it was going to be Kylie, but in fact, it's us, Grinderman, playing unannounced, and a bit unprepared I have to admit; but in the spirit of the occasion we kicked in a loose little set to warm up the stage for the cavalcade of stars to follow.

For me, the outstanding concert of the day was The Dirty 3 doing Ocean Songs, joined by Nick at the piano. Unfortunately, their set got cut short, but what they gave us was masterful. And it's always fascinating to watch Jim White in action, rummaging around his kit with the utmost idiosyncratic grace.

The final act of the day was the legendary Saints, appearing in their (more or less) original line-up: Chris Bailey (vocals, acoustic guitar), Ed Kuepper (guitar), and Ivor Hay (drums). Brisbane's Saints were, like The Modern Lovers, precursor "punk", both slightly ahead and relatively isolated from the NY and London scenes that brought that term into parlance. The 1976 release of their first single (I'm) Stranded set a high bar for all the bands that followed. I still wonder if they've been given enough credit for being among the first and being a lot smarter than they looked. In any case, by the time their triumphant set finished, the crowd was over the moon, which was just about full by the point.

Read chapter 5. Tennis whites and visors at the ready...