red lights

Aussies plant seed and last night
they were in full bloom

The Vines / Jet / The Living End
The Rave
Milwaukee, WI
Mar. 27, 2004

Craig Nichols

Review and Photos of
The Vines & The Living End by Karen Bondowski
Photos of Jet by Phil Bonyata
Australian rockers have been out of the American limelight for quite sometime now. Not since the days of Men At Work and Midnight Oil have the Aussies enjoyed so much fame on this side of the world. The Rave was home to the new Australian Invasion - now known as The Vines, Jet and The Living End (Neon canceled minutes before going on as the lead singer had throat problems). The resurgence of garage rock is now enjoying its 15 minutes of fame. The White Stripes, The Hives, The Strokes, The Von Bondies and now The Vines and Jet are sitting on the summit...problem is there's no where to go but down from here. Especially with the over-the-top '70s excess hugging The Darkness looming overhead.
The often misunderstood Craig Nichols of The Vines had a lot to say and delivered it as only he can. He's like a Mexican jumping bean that took too much acid on the way to the mental hospital. Opening with "Outtathaway" Nichols decided to play it straight with an unusually clean vocal delivery. The band - Patrick Matthews - bass, Ryan Griffiths - guitar and Hamish Rosser - drums - kept it clean and simple and let the unusually normal spirit of Craig Nichols flourish. This was about to change. On "TV Pro" Nichols did an about face and decided to dance with his personal demons. Irreverent and sloppy, he bit the head off the chorus while deepening the delivery. Nichols is not one for musical conformity or social decorum. He spits on the audience while he purposefully sings off key. Why does he do it? Only a walk through his tangled brain matter might give you a clue. "Mary Jane" and "Ride" found the usually hopped - up Nichols making love to the mic as well as the floor. Scruffy and disheveled today's demented Ned Kelly, proceeded to slice and dice "Amnesia," "Autumn Shade II" and "Highly Evolved" into a Vegas buffet mystery meat.
Emerging from their temporary stage exile - the boys from down under did the 1-2-3 sucker punch of "Going Gone," "Get Free" and "Fuck the World" as Nichols extended finger went even deeper inward.
Jet (where's the the?) sauntered onstage replacing New York cool with a jig of Australian swagger. The band - dressed from head to toe in don't-give-a-fuck street cool displayed some beautifully catchy hooks while lining the momentum with a down beat worthy of a Ramones concert without Joey. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" spread its charm and novelty without guilt. While not particularly original, Jet proved that there's still a seat available for some tasty seconds.
The Living End opened with enough jest and originality to make the headliners look in their rearview mirrors. Digging up the graves of The Pogues, Nirvana and somewhere in between - the band let it be known that their signature will soon be all their own.