Review: TISM & Machine Gun Fellatio @ The Riverstage (Brisbane)

“Ninety-nine percent of art is crap!” a snarling Ron Hitler-Barassi told the masses gathered at Brisbane’s The Riverstage last Sunday. At least I think it was him.

The band has long made an art of deconstructing musical clichés, primarily by hiding behind balaclavas and pseudonyms, creating a cult of personality around the musicians. Since their initial demise in 2004, the mystery has been solved: they were teachers, so they toured during school holidays.

However, the revelation didn’t dampen fans’ excitement for their triumphant return, filling the Brisbane night air (October 20) with screams of delight as the seven-piece band took to the stage in matching red jumpsuits, capes and balaclavas with massive mohawks fanning out. their scalps.

TISM have been preparing for this comeback since 2020, starting with releasing their catalog on Spotify. After a triumphant return to the Good Things Festival 2022, the band is not resting on its laurels. Having recently released their first album in 20 years, Death To Art, the band opened their tour in support of a huge line-up that was reminiscent of Homebake ’99’s Ben Lee – a line-up that is arguably in the top one percent of the arts.

Mavis’ family – image © Clea-marie Thorne

The crowd was greeted by Ballarat based band The Mavis’s who reminded the crowd of their last visit to Riverstage in Brisbane. “We played here with Green Day in 1998,” Beki Kolada told the crowd. “We had stuff thrown at us, but so did they, so it’s okay.”

Becky and her brother Matt Doll are the only members of the group from that time. The objects they were thrown into were also a thing of the past, as the crowd was captivated by the band’s rich melodies throughout their short set – their first in six years.

Among their performance, the group debuted a new song, “Heaven.” Dedicated to the memory of Ollie Olsen (the legendary Australian multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer who recently passed away after battling multiple system atrophy), the song showed that their talent for pop hooks had not diminished.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the band’s defining single, “Cry.” This is an incredible song and was the highlight of a strong set. What’s most impressive is how well the pair have preserved their voices, especially Matt, belting out incredible boyish falsetto notes without even a hint of emphasis 26 years after its release.

Ben Lee – image © Clea-marie Thorne

“What a treat this will be,” Ben Lee beamed to the crowd before playing the jangly guitar chords of opening song “Cigarettes Will Kill You.”

The last time I saw Ben perform, he played an incredibly fun and laid-back solo set at the now-closed Stranded Bar. Ben was backed by a three-piece band at The Riverstage and played a tight set, but it was the feeling of fun and positivity that lit up the stage.

During the call and response of his song “Into The Dark,” Ben and the audience sang, “I stole TISM balaclavas because I saw them hanging on a special rack and I gave them to my grandma.”

A small mistake occurred in the toy piano intro to “Catch My Disease”. The selfish artist would have reprimanded their group, but Ben laughed. “They’re called kick-ass, and I wear them with pride,” he told the crowd as he began a round of applause in celebration of the unpredictability of live music.

Eskimo Joe – image © Clea-marie Thorne

With the sunset came a cool change, bringing darkness for the moody hymns of Eskimo Joe of Fremantle. After entering the “Imperial March” from Star Wars, “Sarah” began to play powerful chords.

The band went from down-on-his-luck upstarts to rock stars, singing anthems like “Foreign Land” and “Black Fingernails, Red Wine.” Even the new song “The First Time” sounds like a real anthem, with a great verse: “I used to smoke cigarettes, now I’m just choking.”

In a reminder of the band’s humbler origins, the supporting players left the stage, leaving the main trio to perform their early hit “Sweater”, before Eskimo Joe sent shivers down his spine when Eskimo Joe finished with the timeless classic “From The Sea”.

The song’s opening piano notes and Kaw Temperley’s tremulous sighs took the audience back to 2004, when life seemed simpler, and built into a crushing finale fueled by the drums of Paul “Horsepower” Keenan.

Machine gun fellatio – image © Clea-marie Thorne

A warning was then projected onto the back of the stage. “This performance contains: sexual references, drug references, strong language, strobe effects and nudity,” it said. – You have been warned. It’s Machine Gun Fellatio, damn it! read for a second.

It’s been 19 years since the Sydney troublemakers graced the stage and their anticipation can be seen by the number of fans making their way through the crowd on the hill towards the stage. Finally, KK Juggy took the stage alone, her gold jacket sparkling in the darkness, and opened with an a capella rendition of “(Let Me Be Your) Dirty F…ing Whore.”

Finally, the entire band took the stage, turning The Riverstage into a scene from the Playboy Mansion, showing everything the crowd had been warned about. As the band played their set, pyrotechnics flashed, women in cat costumes wandered around, and a hula hooper in a green wig excited the crowd.

Participants changed costumes, some in front of an astonished audience. It’s a spectacle to behold and the songs still retain their naughtiness. A minor technical problem arose when Pinky Beecroft was left alone on stage: his keyboard may have overheated due to witnessing a striptease.

After cooling down, Pinky performed a solo version of “My Ex-Girlfriend’s Boyfriend”, a song he claimed he wrote by mistake. It’s a moment that demonstrates that, devoid of metal bikinis and angle grinders, Machine Gun Fellatio might have held their own, but their return required a massive party and was very welcome.

TISM – image © Clea-marie Thorne

The crowd could barely contain their anticipation for TISM, which resulted in the night sky filling with their loving chants of “TISM are assholes!” Finally, masked men arrived, adorned with silver capes flowing upward thanks to the blowers on their backs.

The backdrop behind them lowered to reveal three levels of scaffolding filled with artists painting on the cardboard canvases they had been working on throughout the set. During TISM’s performance, puzzled faces appeared in the crowd.

Instead of playing hits, the group opted for a variety of deep tracks that excited TISM’s most dedicated fans. Fans hoping to hear something like “Thunderbirds Are Coming Out” would be disappointed. However, ditching the greatest hits set is entirely TISM’s move, and it showed just how deep and rich their catalog is. I hope the setlist inspires those feeling out of sorts to dive deeper.

When the hits finally sounded, the crowd erupted with delight. “Saturday Night Paralysis” and “Whatareya?” the crowd was hungry, and every time a contestant jumped off the stage onto the barrier, rabid fans would pull him in and steal his balaclava. Luckily, they were caught by security who had a spare balaclava at the ready.

TISM – image © Clea-marie Thorne

When it was time for an encore, the group returned with paintings that the artists had been hard at work on. After a moment of admiration, the group threw them into the crowd, where they were torn apart like unsuspecting creatures – the death of art in front of everyone.

It is a subversive commentary on modern consumer habits in which culture is fragmented and destroyed. However, upon leaving the show, fans clung to the artwork, even tearing off a piece and offering it to other fans. This is a random commentary showing how art lives on through fan sharing and community building.

In the art world, TISM are among the amazing one percent.

More photos from the concert.