[mwoods@customfleet.com.au]

My e-mail details changed at work (and I re-subbed), so any message I send is
currently getting stalled at admin awaiting clearance, but I'll write anyway.

Lou has already posted the set list, but I thought I'd put down a crude
appreciation of these new songs and what they bear a resemblence to elsewhere in
the ouvere.

The album will pick up the thread of development from D&D - BSM - ESM - Breathe
and Redneck as being points of departure for a number of reasons internal and
external to the band (but I'm glad they did!).

Mosquito ('get a simple answer') is a cracker of a song in the Species vein.
The verse brings to mind Written in the Heart and a chorus like Hercules with
Jim and Martin belting out fat open chords.  I'm curious as to where they
sequence this track on the album.  Other songs that peak albums (Drums of
Heaven, Bring on the Change, Blot) have been on the old side 2.  If this song
opens the album like Redneck did, putting the cards on the table so to speak,
where does the album go?  Concrete followed Redneck to continue the rise, but
this album is not like that.  PG went to great lengths last night to discuss the
genesis of the song being tourists lobbing up to Australia expecting to walk
from 'Tennent Creek to Turkey Creek', grossly underestimating the hazards
involved and the fact that the Aust landscape is really quite hostile.
Too much Sunshine starts with the line "Haven't had this much fun since my daddy
took the V8 away", it's got a bit of that surfer song element to it, I guess
like some of the lighter moments of the first couple of albums.  Surf's up
tonight on speed. The chorus is again simple open chords played in unison.
Capricornia (I heard it for the first time last night) instantly brought to mind
the song E&S&M.  More of a song to pull back the drive of an album than a focal
point.  On its own an interesting enough song, but it will be dwarfed by the
likes of Mosquito, Sunshine and Golden Age.  In the context of the album, it
will hopefully find a place alongside tracks like Common Ground, E&S&M and
Return to my Sender.
Luritja Way is being played in the acoustic set and hasn't changed much since it
was first rolled out during TRT tour phase 2.  Slots in nicely beside D&D
material, Bullroarer et al.  Golden Age is pretty much as it was played then
also.  Again, the formula of a Jim riff in the verses with big open chords in
unison to drive the choruses.  The chorus is a bit like Rennaissance Man minus
the tambourine, although this is a tenuous link.
Tone Poem has evolved the most out of the songs that were tried earlier in the
year.  When I retuned home last night I listened back to the Jeffs TRT Perth
boot.  There Jim was playing the riff on keys and there was a cruisey feel to
it.  I recall PG introducing it at Castle Hill as being 'a song for whales'.
Well, now it's evolved from a whale to a mammoth.  Using it as first encore
allowed the four instrumental Oils to take the stage and jam on the Emin/C riff
in a loose Neil Young fashion for a while.  Monday nights solo was even better
than last night, Jim really put some imagination into his lines.  Big dirty
chords with the same riff as before but its raw, no more cruisey!  A few extra
passages have filled the song out.  My favourite so far, if only for Jim being
able to stretch out and really let it rip. Like Mosquito, revisits wilderness,
trees etc.  Brings to mind the live versions of E-beat.

So far no signs of Been away too long or Stand your Ground.  Overpass was not
played last night.

Last night (Tues) saw a big up in the intensity from Monday.  I suspect those
going to Wed and Mon only may have missed the best show.  If it does pick up
again from Tuesday, you might need steel cap boots and a hard hat.  Opening with
Armistice Day was a masterstroke.  I recalled a friend recounting Brisbane
Festival Hall 1983 where they opened with AD.  Spot on Jim, spot on Martin, PG
in sillhouette.  Excellent.

Michael

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