Me First & The Gimme Gimmes @ HQ
(22/01/08)
Reviews by m-fre, 24th January, 2008
The drunkest band I’ve ever seen perform live
to date would be Me First and the Gimme Gimmes at HQ on Tuesday night.
“ALRIGHT ADELAIDE, LET’S F***ING DO THIS
SHIT,” screamed the lead singer during the second song of the
evening, bespectacled in Aviator sunglasses, a cowboy hat and a bandana
around his neck. I’m not sure if the theme of the night was ‘paryletic
Western’, but the show certainly worked a treat with the crowd
who had come to watch their favourite punk cover band in action.
The night kicks off, funnily enough, with a cover of
Paul Simon’s ’ Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard .’
By the end of this song, the air in HQ was already dense with sweat
from the moshers down below having spasms in front of the stage. This
song was closely followed by a ska version of Julie Andrew’s ’
These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things ’. I never thought I’d
enjoy the Sound of Music in distorted guitar format, but hey, the song
actually rocked!
The cowboy-clad band mates appeared to be following
a common theme for the evening – playing the covers as per normal
and then launching into the punk version thirty seconds into it, giving
the audience a taste of what was to come.
Another thing I noticed was that the lead singer was
drunk. Well no, not drunk – absolutely smashed is a better word.
This was clearly evident when he swaggered forward and murmured into
the microphone, “I know … that you know … that I know
…that you know … that you want to f*** me,” and then
proceeded to point as his moustached guitarist, Eric Melvin, and offer
‘moustache rides’ for a dollar.
Other covers done throughout the night included songs
by John Denver, The Eagles and Barry Manilow. Although I’ve never
been much of a ska fan myself, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes really
got me bouncing. A great band to watch, they seemed to entertain both
the young and old that had flocked through the gun detectors into HQ
this evening, and just like their vocalist said – “ not
bad for a bunch of c***s.”