PUSHOVER 98
Melbourne (Sidney Myer Music Bowl),  21st November 1998
by Julia McCartan

'Twas a rainy morn on Saturday 21st November. My friend Wendy and I arrived at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl at around 11.45am. After getting our bags searched and having our drinks confiscated we went inside. We wandered around for a bit and then sat down on the wet grass to see Brisbane band Webster. They were really great, I wish now that I had paid more attention to them. I urge everyone to listen to “Off the Record”, a great song from an underrated band!

The bands that played after that were a bit of a blur, I know that they included Beaverloop, Buscuit, 28 days, The Testeagles, Game Over and The Avalanches. None of them really impressed me, although Game Over's rendition of “Kids in Australia” was pretty funny. We wandered around again and collected tons of free stickers. I stood at the merchandise store contemplating whether to buy a Pushover ’98 CD or a Living End T-shirt. I eventually decided on the T-shirt. Over at the other stage bands such as Nancy Vandal, Area 7 (*skank hard!*), Magic Dirt, Ninety Nine and Snout (“Got Sold on Heaven” is a GREAT song!) were playing.

So, back to the Bowl Stage. Things started to liven up when Effigy came on. With great songs such as “Caught” and “Suspicion Bells” it was an enjoyable set. Wendy and I had an argument about whether the lead singer was actually male (*he IS I tell you!*) despite Wendy insisting that they were an “all girl band”. Well how do you explain the male drummer then?!

Anyway, next came Bodyjar who were thoroughly enjoyable. The highlight of their set was their great song “Remote Controller”. Then the infamous Frenzal Rhomb came on with the crowd chanting “Frenzal, Frenzal!” punching their devil symbolled fists into the air. Known for their intense festival appearances the band sure didn’t disappoint! The highlights of their set had to be “Mum Changed the Locks” and their “Fuck Trilogy”. (which was actually four songs, stupid punks!) Each song had “Fuck” in the title-one went along the lines of “All your friends think you’re a fuck-head, all your friends think you’re shit”. That created a stir in the moshpit, the crowd was finally alive!

When they finished Wendy and I moved right up to the stage to see The Mavis’s. We waited for what seemed like an eternity until they finally came on. We were right in front of Matt and Becky and things weren’t that bad until they begun “Naughty Boy”. We were getting pushed left, right and centre, my main concern was to stay standing. Things were getting too hot and sweaty so we decided to move back at the conclusion of their set.

We were in the middle of the mosh pit when Jebediah came on. These babes from Perth played an energetic set full of all their favourites- “Leaving Home”, “Military Strongmen” “Teflon” “Lino” and in the words of Kevin “Harpoon, a song for all the ladies out there”. When they finished the mosh pit had swelled for the arrival of Melbourne’s own “Living End”. It was now about 8.45pm and the sun was setting. The arrival of Chris, Scott and Trav brought a stir through the crowd. I honestly can’t remember what song they began with (it could have been “Save the Day”) Their set was absolutely amazing, I moshed supremely! The crowd went crazy during their youth anthem “Prisoner of Society”. I screamed the song word for word at the top of my lungs:

“Well we don’t need no one to tell us what to do. I guess we’re on our own and there’s nothing we can do. So we don’t need no one like YOU to tell us what to do!” ‘Cause I’m a brat and I know everything and I talk back ‘cause I’m not listening to anything you say. And if you count to three (1, 2, 3!) you’ll see there’s no emergency. You’ll see I’m not the enemy, just a PRISONER OF SOCIETY!” Whew! (*Julia keels over and collapses!*)

They brought out the brass section of Area 7 for the song “Fly Away”. Other highlights were “Bloody Mary” (a song about a woman who slashes her wrists for fun) “All Torn Down” and their cover version of “Tainted Love”. They ended with “Second Solution” which sent the crowd into a frenzy! Then they left. I was so disappointed, I wanted more! Their 45-minute set went by so quickly, I couldn’t believe that that was it. I was also disappointed that they didn’t play my favourite song “Growing Up, Falling Down”. But still, I shouldn’t complain. The Living End are one of the best live bands around, there is a good reason why they get flogged on the radio. Don’t miss the opportunity to see them live!

It was now pretty dark so we decided to take advantage of the free rides. We were defying gravity on this spinning thing (with a very sleazy operator!) when Rancid hit the stage. With songs such as “Bloodclot” these American punksters got the crowd going. Still dizzy, we sat at the top of the hill and marveled at the rotating moshpit. (By the way, it wasn’t rotating just because we were dizzy; the crowd was actually going around in a huge circle!) No way were we going to join that and get crushed! The Rancid set lasted for about an hour and after that we only caught a few minutes of Voiteck with the million-colour light show. We had had enough, so we got drinks back, (we swear they WERE non-alcoholic for Gods sake!) stumbled to the city and caught a tram home.

So all in all it was a FANTASTIC day! The only bad thing was my ghastly sunburnt arms and face. (The clouds moved on so the majority of the day was sunny) I should have taken advantage of the free sunscreen! Oh well, I’ll know for next time… (and there definitely will be a next time!)