Fu Manchu - Adelaide, 2nd May 2012
Words: Rob Lyon
Fans of stoner rock powerhouse Fu Manchu would have been rubbing their hands together with the announcement that this great band were headlining Melbourne’s infamous Cherry Rock Festival. Things got even better when Adelaide was also announced as a stop on the tour. Fu Manchu celebrated a milestone in 2010, chalking up twenty years, starting out as Virulence in 1985.
Adelaide music fans complain about the lack of gigs in their town, yet on this grand occasion they went missing. Fowlers should have been packed, damn it. There should have been a queue out the door, the sold out sign up and the sight of random punters who missed out on a ticket hustling their way in. Instead, it was only a small group of vocal diehard fans that made this a show to remember.
The opening salvos of Eatin’ Dust and Hells On Wheels really signalled game on. The sound mix was on the money for the first part, with drummer Scott Reeder sounding like he was smashing glass. The first interaction with the crowd was front man Scott Hill with the fired up comment “Mr Mic Guy, Jesus Christ, lower the monitors,” before going on to say that it has been a long time since they’ve been in Adelaide (well over ten years).
Adelaide music fans complain about the lack of gigs in their town, yet on this grand occasion they went missing. Fowlers should have been packed, damn it. There should have been a queue out the door, the sold out sign up and the sight of random punters who missed out on a ticket hustling their way in. Instead, it was only a small group of vocal diehard fans that made this a show to remember.
The opening salvos of Eatin’ Dust and Hells On Wheels really signalled game on. The sound mix was on the money for the first part, with drummer Scott Reeder sounding like he was smashing glass. The first interaction with the crowd was front man Scott Hill with the fired up comment “Mr Mic Guy, Jesus Christ, lower the monitors,” before going on to say that it has been a long time since they’ve been in Adelaide (well over ten years).
It was a business like performance as they trawled their way through an awesome back catalogue spanning over twenty years. Not surprisingly, the band did more than what they had to, looking out to a half empty room and thinking what the hell am I doing in Adelaide. Having said that though the crowd continually yelled out for requests, some denied and some were already on the set list with Hill saying “well, what do you fucking wanna hear?”
California Crossing was epic and there were some big cheers for Boogie Van from the 1999 album King Of The Road. The bruising riffs of Evil Eye made the purchase for ear plugs more than worthwhile as the intensity of their set continued to build. The band seemed appreciative of the crowd turning out on a ‘school night’, going back down memory lane to play Strato-Streak from the 1996 album In Search Of. Holy Moses! That song was a great moment in the set with the repeated howl of “Slow Down, Slow Down” proving awesome beyond awesome.
Bionic Astronautics from the relatively recent album Signs Of Infinite Power got a look in. Hill reflected on one song that gets played just about every night, Coyote Duster, which drew some big cheers from this small diehard crowd. With the end looming, they brought out the big guns with Squash That Fly and Hung Out To Dry and the last song was met with some ironic boos (yep, the night was far to short for this iconic band) before ripping in to King Of The Road.
It did seem like that was it but the vocal cheers got the band back for one last time, playing Saturn III, which was epic beyond all proportions and there was no other better way they could have topped things off.
California Crossing was epic and there were some big cheers for Boogie Van from the 1999 album King Of The Road. The bruising riffs of Evil Eye made the purchase for ear plugs more than worthwhile as the intensity of their set continued to build. The band seemed appreciative of the crowd turning out on a ‘school night’, going back down memory lane to play Strato-Streak from the 1996 album In Search Of. Holy Moses! That song was a great moment in the set with the repeated howl of “Slow Down, Slow Down” proving awesome beyond awesome.
Bionic Astronautics from the relatively recent album Signs Of Infinite Power got a look in. Hill reflected on one song that gets played just about every night, Coyote Duster, which drew some big cheers from this small diehard crowd. With the end looming, they brought out the big guns with Squash That Fly and Hung Out To Dry and the last song was met with some ironic boos (yep, the night was far to short for this iconic band) before ripping in to King Of The Road.
It did seem like that was it but the vocal cheers got the band back for one last time, playing Saturn III, which was epic beyond all proportions and there was no other better way they could have topped things off.