22/01/2008
HQ
Adelaide, Australia

REVIEW

Review by m-fre (originally posted here...)

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.”