Rock The Boat

You can tell a federal election is on because the rhetoric around asylum seekers has become over the top.  From Tony Abbott's mantra to "stop the boats" to Kevin Rudd's PNG solution, there is a distinct lack of focus on the human element of this issue.  Last night Tash and I attended the Rock The Boat concert to benefit both the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Australian Greens candidate Adam Bandt MP's campaign to retain his Melbourne seat.

The first two acts of the evening were mainstays of the Melbourne music scene in the 1990s.  Even played more of an acoustic set, while a reformed Snout came out firing with a very energetic set that got a great response from the packed crowd.  I have a feeling many came to the gig specifically to see them play.  After a short interview by MC Alan Brough with Adam Bandt and a representative from Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, hip hop act Joelistics took to the stage.  Joel started with some slam poetry before launching into songs off his album Voyager.  He was very entertaining and even sampled Dolly Parton's "Jolene" in one number.  Although he was worried it wasn't his type of crowd, I'm pretty sure he managed to win everyone over by the end.

I don't think the final act for the night, The Basics, knew how to follow Joelistics, and that coupled with technical difficulties made for a bit of a shambolic start.  Kris seemed drunk, which always adds an air of danger to their set as Tash and I have witnessed in the past during a few of their residencies.  After an abortion joke at the end of "She's Gonna B. Late" his bass decided to cut out in the middle of "The No. 1 Cause Of Death Amongst Youth Today."  Kris then invited people to hit the bar during the slower number "Feels Like Love."  It wasn't until Tim Heath's Paul Kellyesque spoken word intro to "Hey Rain" that they managed to turn a corner.  Who would have thought that Tim would be the one to rescue the set?  Dave Bramble joined the boys on keys for the rest of the set as they played "Have Love, Will Travel," "Rattle My Chain," "Lovin' Man" and then finished with some call and response on "Call It Rhythm And Blues."  It was certainly an entertaining second show back and proves that you never know what might happen at a Basics gig.