** Powderfinger live at Festival Hall, Melbourne 28/01/05. **

How much can a band suck? Well my son this is highly dependent on the ticket price. For give or take $70, in the sweat box ‘festy hall’ NOT Melbourne’s most avant garde venue, the ‘Finger are already pushing my buttons.

Continuing the moan fest, these tix were bought about Octoberish last year. That’s a long time in advance. Most of my mates laughed and said “i’ve paid a lot less than that to see Powderfinger!” and I know they’re right. It was part out of my girlfriend’s moan that an Aussie band wasn’t ‘worth it’ that I forked out the cash. Sucks to be me? You betchya.

By this stage good old Bernard was asking a lot and I felt well bent over. Well they were on at 9.15 and off by 11.15. A two hour set, so not too bad, but I thought it was only England that had gigs that finished before Cinderella turns back into a pauper hag. Apparently Bernard Fanning turns back into a Brisbane dole bludger by midnight as well because come quarter past, the house lights were on, NO ENCORE and the ‘Finger had fucked off like Trump’s wife as soon as his boxers came off.

So i’m feeling bloody rheamed with my pants on holding my bloody girlfriends hand and I am trying desperately to be impressed. Bernard was laconic. The two guitarists were doing their best Joe Perry impersonations with solid, stable US stadium rock. They had some screen behind them at times with the lyrics like i’d paid $70 to drink warm beer and watch Fanning sing karaoke.

Some people would’ve said they did a solid two hours, and they belted out all the radio hits. I would say I saw a rigid set, played by frigid musos too scared to improvise their way out of the set list now they’re played on commerical radio. The brilliant backup singers probably stopped the need for Bernie to sing with an autotune and have the pitch and fullness of the studio albums. How bloody lovely. How abouts a bit of spontinaeity or even bloody serendipidy?

Thanks for a set that started somewhere and took me nowhere. I thought I could be persuaded but what a soft on of a gig. Back to Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union I go.