HOMEBAKE
The Domain, Sydney
11 December 1999
by Cee Murphy

I'm not exactly sure where to begin with this review… with the aches and pains that I have now or with the fun I had yesterday… somehow I think that yesterday would be the more appropriate place!

What can I say? Homebake went off!!! There were massive crowds for nearly every band at the main stage. I am not sure about the other stages though because this year I only watched the bands on the main stage as they seemed more enticing than those on the Juice Stage or in the Big Top. I have no complaints as Chay did about Livid in respect to volume… I can still hear ringing in my ears as I write this and it finished over 14 hours ago.

After receiving a call 15 minutes before I was about to leave from a friend wanting to come along our group was increased from 2 of us to 3. We arrived just as 78 Saab was performing on the main stage. As none of us were too fussed to whether we saw them or not we had a general look around the domain to find out where everything was compared to last year as well as buy our t-shirts…

Next we returned to the main stage to watch 28 Days who went off… as did all the bands. The mosh pit probably wasn't as violent or energetic as it got later in the day but it was still happening! We were right down the front and having an excellent time.

Gerling was next and they were only on for 30 minutes and they were excellent… they should have been on for a lot longer… the mosh pit seemed to liven up a bit and the crowd was definitely growing by this stage. My only question is: what do they keep in those back packs?? If they were 28 Days the answer would be simple: Free Shit… as that's what 28 Days kept giving out… but for Gerling it remains a mystery.

Next up was Eskimo Joe. They had moved up to the main stage this year as last year they were only on the juice stage. The song that definitely had most people going crazy was 'sweater'. It went off everyone was jumping around whether they were in the mosh pit or not!

As Area 7 were next and Damien and I aren't huge fans we left Nathan at the front with his camera and we ventured off to get some lunch and be back in time for Shihad. Now, Shihad I hadn't heard much of before yesterday but they were abso-bloody-lutely excellent! They went off and according to Damo the mosh pit went off even more… it looked like it from where I was/kept getting dragged into it.

An excess of shoes were thrown onto the stage during Something For Kate - I figure this is for one of 2 reasons: 1) it was just the result of the "extremely active" mosh pit, or 2) the entire band went on stage bare foot and the crowd was just being generous… the crowd for Something For Kate was pretty huge and the mosh pit was goin' at a million miles an hour!!

Before Frenzal Rhomb came on they put on this really really really crap ass 'comedian' except he wasn't funny… he just pissed everyone off… not a good thing to do to a bunch of angry Frenzal Fans!!

Frenzal Rhomb came on and annouced that a horse called Frenzel Rhomb would be racing in Adelaide at the same time they were playing (they'd put $20 both ways on it earlier in the day). Frenzal Rhomb went off and so did Frenzel Rhomb by actually winning the race! They played it to us… and with the bet they had put on it earlier in the day would have won over $200… not bad… I wouldn't have been complaining… they were actually quite astonished that the horse actually won!!! The crowd were just as enthused when they played their old stuff as they were when the played their new stuff… 'Never Had So Much Fun' really went off and the mosh was more crowded than ever!

Following Frenzal Rhomb were Jebediah and the crowd were exactly as packed as they were for Frenzal… not a millimetre between people… I have bruises on my back from the pressure of people's fists leaning against me! They played a mixture of their old and new stuff as well but I'd have to say that people got most excited when they played 'Leaving Home'. Although the crowd were also quite excited when they started on their own rendition of the Whitlams 'Chunky Chunky Air Guitar'.

Grinspoon were the third last band to play. By the time they came on the mosh pit had basically extended its way all the way to the back of the crowd. 'Just Ace' would have been their most popular song sending the entire crowd absolutely wild!!! Just before the end of Grinspoon Damo and I once again left Nathan in the mosh pit… 5 hours straight in there was enough for me thanks!!! We got out and drank a helluva lot of water. We listened to the rest of Grinspoon while recovering and then although Powderfinger were on we ventured off the get some money but we were back in time to see most of Powderfinger.

The came what most of the 12 yr old teenyboppers in the crowd had been waiting all day to see… silverchair!! "We love you Daniel" screamed into my ears a million times and I wasn't even in the most pit! silverchair played some stuff off Neon Ballroom as well as their older albums - frogstomp etc. The lighting was absolutely fantastic!! They had heaps of different lights as well as disco balls. To escape actually having to look at Daniel Johns, Damo and I sat down for a lot of silverchair and listened from afar. I like their music a lot I just don't like Daniel very much. Maybe it's just the fact that all these little teenyboppers who also like Brittney Spears and the Backstreet Boys think they can get away with it cause they also like silverchair and are completely in love with Daniel Johns. Sorry, that was just my little whinge for the review =). Where was I? Oh that's right… I forgot to mention Daniel Johns dress sense… or lack of… he came onstage dressed in a sequinned jacket… I mean please wake up to yourself boy!!

The night ended there. We left about 11pm almost ran out of petrol getting out of the city and it's traffic jams, went to maccas and got home just before 1am. Unlike Nathan who still had to drive 45mins to get home. All in all it was a great day… in general the set up was the same as last year - apart from the entry area… that was a whole lot worse… more cramped. The main stage area was fenced off this year and there were a lot more security guards around. Down the front they were really mad though handing out water in the breaks etc.

It was definitely better than last year even though the band lineup didn't seem as good it was - maybe even better! It was excellent and if you have the chance guys… go next year!!