Pollyanna/Bluebottle Kiss/Gersey
Prince Of Wales, St. Kilda (Melbourne), 10th September 1999
by Jaymin

What a night! Before I start, I plead to anyone who hasn't seen Pollyanna live to make an effort and go and see them. They are the most amazing live band. They were on a high last night and belted out over an hour and a half of the most brilliant music you would ever like to see.

We arrived with Gersey playing their last song, so I can't really comment too much on them. Their final song was catchy so they perhaps have potential but really, who am I to say!??! Bluebottle Kiss were next on and I'd heard the 2 tracks that JJJ gave a bit of airplay to 'Return To The City Of Folded Arms' and Running Around White Picket Fences'. The crowd really didn't get into them, as we were one of the few people standing up throughout their set. I don't think I've ever seen a crowd sit and basically ignore a support band. I'm sure it's happened but it was a first for me. I thought they were all right. They seemed to want to make every song an epic with huge climatic finishes and songs that didn't want to end. They were extremely loud. For anyone who has seen them live, they concentrate heavily on their guitars rather than vocals and this made it impossible to hear anything other than them. This was proven by the bar guy asking me 8 times to repeat my order and then still getting 3 of the 4 drinks wrong. (and apparently that was my fault!?!??!) My ears are still ringing the morning after??

Pollyanna then arrived and thank god everybody stood up. They began at 11:50pm and played til about 1:35am which was sensational. 2 encores of 3 songs each. I'll go through the playlist how I remember it. It will be a bit sketchy in places but I'll try my best.

SSAE
Black Bear
Effervescence
Feeding Circle
Cinnamon Lip
Home Is Where My Heart Sank
Frayed
Disclaimer
In Love with Doubt
Keep Me Guessing (a request for a guy called Joel)
Pale Grey Eyes
Vanilla Coated Salesman
DitchDigger
Brittle then Broken
Hermit Inertia

The first set was excellent. I never wanted it to end. They could have played for hours and hours but of course this wasn't going to happen. They started off with SSAE and Black Bear followed by a semi older track Effervescence. The guys were pretty talkative which was good. The first set was (let's say marred) by the constant 'Lemon Suck' chant that was occurring from behind me. You'd think we were at a soccer match rather than a gig. It was funny the first couple of times but it became fairly annoying after it occurred after each break in song. Matt responded by saying "Least theres no awkward silence between the tracks' and then went on to say that recently in Sydney (I'm guessing at the Ben Folds Five gig), some guy yelled out "Play some Korn you mother f#$%ers". Matt said he didn't know how to respond to it so he just kept playing.

The highlight for me was Keep Me Guessing. It was a request for some guy called Joel and it was a song, which apparently they hadn't played live in a while. It was also the first time I'd seen them play Brittle Then Broken anywhere but last. Hermit Inertia was the final track of the set and when it's played live, it just adds something to it. I don't know what it is but it improves it in some way!?!?

Piston
Peachy Keen
Crave the Comfort You Give

They came back out for the accustomed encore and went straight into it with a song off their first album 'Longplayer', Piston. Peachy Keen followed as did the Lemon Suck chants and I assumed they would end with it. But they didn't which was good because I was hanging for them to play Crave the Comfort You Give all night and they did. This track is awesome. It's the final track on Delta City Skies and its sensational. As they left for the second time, the Lemon Suck chant continued and I think everyone knew that they weren't going to get out alive without playing it.

Lemon Suck (solo)
Sixteen and Counting
T-shirt Tan

So Matt entered for the third time and started strumming and cautiously singing Lemon Suck until half way through the 1st verse he forgot the lyrics. Which was kinda funny. He blamed the fact that they hadn't played it for years as the cause but muddled his way through it. Well not entirely through it. Rayke came back out and tried to help with the lyrics but it wasn't really working too well so they stopped, got Glenn back out and hammered out Sixteen and Counting which was extremely good. They said it was their final song but they lied and finished off with a song off Longplayer called T-shirt Tan.

Overall it was a fantastic night. Matt had a couple of slurs on their previous record company, which they are no longer affiliated with. Apparently their record company (the name escapes me) wanted them to sound more like Powderfinger so basically they told them where to go. Violetine did a similar thing a little while back with the same record company. So they are selling their new stuff at gigs only since they no longer have a record company.

A couple of friends of mine spoke with Rayke after the show and apparently she is going to America for a few months and there's a fair chance she ain't coming back. )o: Apparently when recording the latest album she met a guy over there and they hit it off. Matt also said at the end of the gig that they'd be back in a couple of months with a line-up change so I am guessing that it will include a new bass player. Without Rayke, Pollyanna will never be the same.

And if you are still reading to this point you've done extremely well!!! LOL