There is something special in seeing Steve Kilbey on stage, front centre, leading The Church, completely in his zone, eyes fixed on his bass guitar, concentrating, taking rhythmic lead, face expressionless his emotions and thoughts resonating through his music. It was always going to be hard to write a non-biased review, given that these guys are one of my all time favourite bands, idolised since high school but judging by the crowd’s reaction at the Factory that Sunday night, not one iota of bias was needed.
“God I've been asleep so long, I've been away, Back from software limbo the natives call today…” were the lines to the opening song of the night but before those familiar lyrics were uttered, Steve’s grinding bass and Marty Wilson-Piper’s grungy guitar riffs transported the crowd through an extended electric, fever injected introduction that left no doubt that after a long hiatus The Church were back and meant business. The song was “Tantalized” and the night was underway, we were about to experience a lesson on what Oz music was all about, it had nothing to do with a fancy light show, nothing to do with eclectic props or costumes, it was all about the music and the enjoyment of still being a “band” after almost 30 years together.
Marty Wilson Piper was beaming all night, a smile that could not be removed, he looked like a mountain man and when the crowd yelled at him to get a haircut, he looked out and blurted the defiant word “Never”. Even the normally reserved Peter Koppes managed a smile or two and nailed all those traditional solo’s of his, Tim was a madman on the drums, he was on another level and Steve, well he was the eternal entertainer, always keeping in touch with the crowd, in pace with the mood that was being projected from the masses.
The set list included a mixture of songs from "The Blurred Crusade" years right through to their latest "Untitled #23" offering, a highly amusing moment was when Steve introduced “Almost With You” as the true Oz Rock Song, which it was, but you could sense a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Marty’s trademark 12-string guitar gave a surreal and ethereal sound to classics like “Almost With You” and “Under The Milky Way” a very moving experience to hear. The new songs like “Pangaea” and “Happenstance” were beautiful peaces to experience live, so I am looking forward to getting my hands on the new material.
The standout of the night, for me, was the Blurred Crusade’s classic single “You Took”. This song certainly took everything out of the band, every member was pounding, squirming, sweating, straining through every note and at one point, of this 8 minute plus number, Steve was sitting down playing the bass guitar from on top of his lap, Marty was doing rounds of the stage, Tim was drumming away to oblivion and Peter brought out the slide guitar. What an effort, what a performance, what an experience for all of us to witness.
The Church came back twice after the main set ended, they wanted to give more, they wanted to articulate the enjoyment they felt, they didn’t want to end and the crowd responded accordingly. It was well after midnight when they finally played that last note but the quote of the night belonged to Steve, when during the last encore Peter was tuning his guitar in readiness for the next song, Steve turns to face him and said “F#ck the tuning, lets play”.. Quite a fitting statement that summed up the band’s exuberance that night.
“God I've been asleep so long, I've been away, Back from software limbo the natives call today…” were the lines to the opening song of the night but before those familiar lyrics were uttered, Steve’s grinding bass and Marty Wilson-Piper’s grungy guitar riffs transported the crowd through an extended electric, fever injected introduction that left no doubt that after a long hiatus The Church were back and meant business. The song was “Tantalized” and the night was underway, we were about to experience a lesson on what Oz music was all about, it had nothing to do with a fancy light show, nothing to do with eclectic props or costumes, it was all about the music and the enjoyment of still being a “band” after almost 30 years together.
Marty Wilson Piper was beaming all night, a smile that could not be removed, he looked like a mountain man and when the crowd yelled at him to get a haircut, he looked out and blurted the defiant word “Never”. Even the normally reserved Peter Koppes managed a smile or two and nailed all those traditional solo’s of his, Tim was a madman on the drums, he was on another level and Steve, well he was the eternal entertainer, always keeping in touch with the crowd, in pace with the mood that was being projected from the masses.
The set list included a mixture of songs from "The Blurred Crusade" years right through to their latest "Untitled #23" offering, a highly amusing moment was when Steve introduced “Almost With You” as the true Oz Rock Song, which it was, but you could sense a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Marty’s trademark 12-string guitar gave a surreal and ethereal sound to classics like “Almost With You” and “Under The Milky Way” a very moving experience to hear. The new songs like “Pangaea” and “Happenstance” were beautiful peaces to experience live, so I am looking forward to getting my hands on the new material.
The standout of the night, for me, was the Blurred Crusade’s classic single “You Took”. This song certainly took everything out of the band, every member was pounding, squirming, sweating, straining through every note and at one point, of this 8 minute plus number, Steve was sitting down playing the bass guitar from on top of his lap, Marty was doing rounds of the stage, Tim was drumming away to oblivion and Peter brought out the slide guitar. What an effort, what a performance, what an experience for all of us to witness.
The Church came back twice after the main set ended, they wanted to give more, they wanted to articulate the enjoyment they felt, they didn’t want to end and the crowd responded accordingly. It was well after midnight when they finally played that last note but the quote of the night belonged to Steve, when during the last encore Peter was tuning his guitar in readiness for the next song, Steve turns to face him and said “F#ck the tuning, lets play”.. Quite a fitting statement that summed up the band’s exuberance that night.
