Fortunately there was no support band as the starting time was 11:00pm and I'm not much interested in non-TISM rock bands. The Watershed venue is based around a shallow pond outside of the W.A. Art Gallery, enclosed for the purpose by various walls. Despite, theoretically, being part of the official DeRM tour there were no 'making of' CDs for the first 200 through the door.
The crowd was starting to show TISM's age, with a lot of late-20's early-30's fans. Most seemed to be from the yob element, although on the way home I was passed by a sporty BMW driven by a lady at the gig. Oddly I appeared to be the only person dressed in a TISM shirt. TISM were dressed in the canary yellow body suits, wearing harnesses holding large helium balloons with the evil smiley face logo. No nudity ensued, although Ron took his balloon off early on (it may have been damaged?).
They opened with I Drive a Truck, good choice. The sound was clear and of moderate volume in the stands, but in front of the stage it condensed horribly and became very loud. The organisers of the Big Day Out received a mention in the list in Mystery of the Artist Explained, but I couldn't determine the list's punch line. Other songs (I'm pretty sure this is complete but it's not in order) were Thou Shalt Not Britney Spear, Honk if You Love Fred Durst, Death Death Death Amway Amway Amway, X-Treme Sports Can Kiss My Arse, Ol' Man River, Greg! The Stop Sign, Defecate on My Face, Channel Turd, If You're Not Famous at Fourteen, You're Finished, Ten Points for a Razor Scooter, All Homeboys are Dickheads, Saturday Night Palsy, I'll 'Ave Ya, Five Yards, Whatareya? and BFW (minus the rant). In the middle somewhere was the Advance Australia Fair diatribe.
Amway went off with the bagpipes being replaced by feedback and general noise. Whatareya? was great live too, mainly for it's beat. One of the guys ran through the crowd during the second song, stealing a swig of beer from someone on my left and a puff of a joint from someone on my right. Ron ran through the arena a few songs later, hyperactively jumping up and down to peer over the watershed walls. Other TISM member jaunts (can't remember who) included splashing about in the pond and dancing in the mosh pit during I'll 'Ave Ya (the balloon being used as a punching ball). Half the mosh crowd got up on the stage for I'll 'Ave Ya, the final song.
Two crowd surfers gave it a go, including a girl who surprisingly didn't seem to be getting groped.
Disappointments were the lack of vocal interaction with the crowd. I was expecting more rants, but also some actual speaking from the band. Don't we all want to be insulted by TISM? Perhaps refusing to speak to us is the insult... After living on free T-shirts from holidaying relatives the over the past couple of years I was in need of some new ones. Unfortunately there was only one style available in anything other than a tiny size. No Five Yards T-shirt or shorts, for which I was hoping. I was also disappointed by my general reserve and stultifying shyness which precluded me from moshing.
Having never seen TISM before live it was impressive to see the ludicrous, non-stop dancing moves and general energy. Although aptly suited for a 'joke' band, it's hard to imagine a better live show. One hour fifteen was too short - it's amazing how quickly the time goes when you love the music as opposed to standing in a pub trying to politely enjoy some tossers' whiney originals.
