This review is of the last Road Rage Tour gig, which was at the Ozone Bar, Northbridge in Perth. It was on the 29^th of September 1997 and was reviewed by Princess Iodine.

It was a fine Spring night. September 29^th 1997. Queen's Birthday and t'was a public holiday which means I had to get my ass out of the house pretty early. Didn't want to be 2 hours late for the gig. Yadda…yadda…yadda… Ozone Bar had a few punters ordering drinks and sitting on the floor when the first support came out. Mutt. Metal band. They sounded alright. They tried to get the crowd happening but in vain. Except for 2 guys who tried to headbang and ended up banging into each other.

It took a while before the next support was up, and when the familiar faces where seen, it took about less than 3 seconds to get the crowd rushing to the front. It's always a welcome to see fellow Perthites Non Intentional Lifeform. They played mostly stuff from their new record Uisce, and had the crowd moshing in no time with a few guys crowd surfing and all.

Standing near the speakers, I could have deafened myself, but what the heck. My eardrums were going 'nang-nang-nang' even when those Byron Bay lads had graced the stage. Yeah, Grinspoon graced the stage like arrogant sea urchins, so I was told. Phil Jamieson looked pretty stoned but he sure had the energy to wail his guts out and rock Ozone bar that night. First up with Pressure Tested 1984 and DCx3 followed up nicely. Shortly after, it was that all too familiar Triple J hit Pedestrian, and everyone was bopping up and down singing in tune...with that Ha-ppy Birth-Day….

Amidst all that rocking, Phil had time to comment about Emu beer and how it tasted like shit and talk about the Royal Perth Show which was going on at the time. He asked the crowd what they wanted to hear, and with a couple of shouts, he replied with, 'We ain't a fucking karaoke band!', and that's when Grinspoon exploded into Boundary.

Just Ace sounded really well live, even the crowd controller was tapping his foot and nodding his head in time. They threw in a couple of tracks from their previous EP and that was well received. They left. The crowd wanted more. They got more. Grinspoon graced the stage once again for an encore. 'We'll only do one more fucking song!'. Yeah, they kept their words and only one more song was ripped from Guide To Better Living, and that was the end of the Road Rage tour.

I left with my ears still going 'nang-nang-nang'. My heart was stabbed for they were such arrogant bastards but they gave an excellent performance. No one can deny that. So what have I got to complain, eh? Two Thumbs Up, no doubt about it.