A sell-out crowd greeted Melbourne's longest running novelty band at the Prince of Wales on Friday, with many punters left hanging around the front trying to get their hands on a ticket.
Legends of Motorsport had the main support act (I arrived too late to see Mrs Pinkwhistle) and played their own brand of loud, messy and dirty rock'n'roll. The tunes weren't too bad but the side was let down by the below-average howling of the vocalist/keyboardist.
TISM were here to promote their new album and probably to try out their set and costumes before next weekend's Meredith Festival. Tonight the lads were clad all in white, with what appeared to be the limbs of many slaughtered Muppets hanging from their arms and heads. The colourful appendages worked well with the band's energetic dancing.
As usual, the band sounded great. Limited by the stage size at the PoW, TISM forwent live drums in favour of machines, but the live elements - guitar, bass, keyboards and the dual vocals of Ron Hitler Barassi and Humphrey B. Flaubert - all sounded great.
I have a theory that every generation has its own TISM song (at least, every generation since the band first appeared). For me, it was (He'll Never Be An) Old Man River, for those a bit younger it's surely Whatareya?, while the oldies love Defecate On My Face or Bruiser. [He means Death Death Death, Amway Amway Amway - Ms .45] For teenagers just discovering the band, BFW will probably be the standout (it fits the most targets into a single song since Jung Talent Time). All these songs made an appearance in the set this evening, making sure the over-30s fans (and there were plenty there) were kept happy, but were also given a taste of new songs like You're Only Five Yards From A Fuckwit, If You're Not Famous At Fourteen, You're Finished, and Thou Shalt Not Britney Spear.
Ron's traditional poem was far more poignant than funny tonight, choosing to address the issues of refugees and the selfish attitudes of Australians than simply going for easy laughs.
The rowdy folks up the front manages to knock down one of the Prince's disco balls due to frenzied crowd surfing, and they tore poor Ron apart when he chose to dive into the crowd (finally returning sans mask and pants).
All in all, another triumph for the self-proclaimed "hardest working part-time band in the business". Be sure to see them at Meredith.
