MONDAY

Rip It Up, Issue 55, 1 February 1982, Page 4

MONDAY

Ladies and ' gentlemen, Otis Mace and Rex Reason, in their latest incarnation, Zombies of the Stratosphere, with Phil Lambert (ex-Rebel Truce).drumming, and an unknown lady on minimal clarinet and vocals. Some much-needed humour, concentrated and calculated silliness. Also a quite formidable band, Rex being especially fine on the bass.' Garage Crawlers, slimmed down ft a three-piece, played some muscular melodies, a string, told an awful Irish joke and left everyone choking in the dust. Mud would , have almost been preferable •'JpPHnHEB If three thousand bands threw away their Cure albums, they'd be lost. So it is with the Corners. Doleful music ('This is a song about insanity') that was out of place. Thrash, thump, wail, and nothing in between. , • : The Instigators, four rude boys and one rude girl, played copybook ska and reggae, taking a strong line through the Specials and the Selector, competent, sometimes angry, but hardly stunning. Heat, sunburn, dust, constipation. Duncan Campbell Hattie and the Havana Hot-

shots stole the afternoon away. The lady herself appeared stunning, in orange and green flounce. The sound was smooth, the brass punchy, the guitar hot. Some idiot threw a can, striking her on the forehead but Hattie carried on without mentioning it, finishing with 'Angel Eyes' from the Hotshots' album. Broken Dolls were in top form and opened with 'Typical Girls'. The funky rhythms became progressively harder and tighter, eventually going all out with 'Blue Movies', 'lt's OK' and The Chosen Few'. The Neighbours looked spiffing. Trudi in bright pink bows, Rick in a blue suit, Sam with a pink tie, and Chris in white. 'Promises', 'Dancin', 'All My Dreams Keep Coming True' were all carried off with total effort and energy from the band. Neighbours continued to rip it with 'Lie To Me' and their single, 'Love Is Never Cruel'. For encore we got Harder They Come', kissing goodbye to an excellent afternoon. Ann Louise Martin The Mockers confidently strode through their diverse set of originals, including the superb 'Good Old Days' and the curious Trendy Lefties'. As players the band are very able, though they appeared disinterested in the event. Were they merely apprehensive as to where their singer's crusade to define Mocker cool would take him next? Murray Cammick The Narcs came across as a solid, tight bunch of honest-to-God rockers, but lacked that

crucial spark of personality. Their material was repetitive, rather than catchy. A potentially dynamite backing band, in need of a frontman/songwriter. The much-awaited Graham Brazier resurrection started shakily, but rallied and finished strongly. The band really got on top of things when Dave McArtney came on to add a bit of fatness to the sound, and confidence to the troops. Brazier may not be as manic these days, but he's still a real presence on stage. The new material sounds fine, and we await future developments with interest. Midnight Oil impressed as easily the most adventurous of

the 'heavy' Ocker visitors, and were unfortunate to be playing after most of the headbangers had left, singing the praises of Cold Chisel. As with all the Australians, they put on a dynamic show, non-stop action that assaulted the audience, rather than wooed them. Lacking the few memorable songs that distinguished Cold Chisel, they were less obviously peddling secondhand goods, materialwise, and appeared to work hard on the music as well as the showmanship. Men At Work probably had the most difficult job of the weekend, trying to excite an audience that was pretty well shot, after three days and four

nights of music, junk food, booze, dust and little sleep. Presumably because they were going out live on radio, they played at a noticeably lower volume, and with a rather tamer

mix than the crowd had heard all weekend. They then proceeded to prove that anything volume can do, rhythmic subtlety can do better. They got virtually the entire crowd dancing and singing along. On the extended finale, a sort of calypso stomp, the punters commandeered rubbish bins and joined in. An uneven set, but at its best it was great. Don McKay