Basic Train Wreck

For the first of the May Tuesday night residency at the Northcote Social Club for The Basics, Mary and Springer and I met out in the beer garden for a pub meal. Once we made our way into the band room, it was dark and hush and everyone was sitting cross-legged on the floor for Tash Parker...who was accompanied by Wally De Backer on percussion. The banter between these two was so sweet!

The boys soon took their positions on stage, and launched into a track they called Jungle Juice, and then joked about how bad it was. This song, and Kris, were all over the shop...which set the scene for the night. He opened with the comment that there were times recently where playing together again hadn't looked likely.

Just Hold On seemed to pull the show back for a few minutes, before Kris admitted that they haven't played together for sometime, and that we were witnessing a live rehersal. Mingling tracks with experiemental jams and covers, at one point Kris and Tim started in on completely different songs, and Wally laughed that Tim was still trying to follow the set list.

One track from the current album, being The No 1 Cause Of Death Amongst Youth Today. No mention of the new EP to be launched this month, in line with Wally's 30th birthday. They did play Happy Birthday, and dedicated it to a couple of birthdays in the room!

The crowd was uncomfortable, and unsure how to react. A glimpse of The Basics we all love met with resounding support, and tentative engagement, but most of the gig was awkward silence. Kris asked the crowd for support at one point, for Wally to play bass, and they swapped. Kris danced across the stage, bumping into Tim at times. It was all very random.

Better was a highlight for me, and made gains to pulling the set back from despair. Wally's vocals will always shine. Tim belted out his version of Have Love, Will Travel. Kris apologised for the show being such a shambles.

Wow. The crowd was stunned, and a strange lull hung over us all as we exited the Northcote. Will we see the boys next week?