TISM, Punters Club, 31 Jan 2002

One week’s notice, twelve bucks, no pre-sales, venue of only 300 capacity. Yessss.

The Punters is having a month long fling of special gigs before closing on February 17. Still no word on what will replace the Punters Club, but its closure will certainly mean that I have no reason to go anywhere near Brunswick St ever again.

On Thursday night, TISM played a special farewell show and destroyed half the venue.

 

Punters at the Punters may be queuing up to sue TISM for causing siliconiosis after Ron pulled most of the roof above the stage down, showering us in fibreglass.

Supporting TISM is usually a painful experience consisting mostly of being abused by loyal TISM groupies, but the Fat Thing put in an entertaining performance of solid, unoriginal funk-metal. Fortunately they had stage presence coming out of their ears, and the audience treated them fairly well.

Because there’s no backstage worth speaking of at the Punters, TISM entered through the normal entrance. Costumes were the plain black raver gear that seems to be derigueur for secret and short-notice gigs (Perth the next day apparently got full balloon heads and canary yellow costumes).

It would be lousy to suggest that TISM are the AC/DC of alt.rock, but to a large extent you know just what you’re gonna get at a TISM show and this gig did not disappoint. The setlist was a satisfying combination of new stuff and classic rock, Humphrey went for a bar walk, people got naked, adoring and uncritical fans got jumped on repeatedly by Ron, and somehow this managed to look spontaneous even though it’s happened exactly this way at hundreds of other TISM gigs.

Basically, if I or anyone else at this gig wanted an intellectual challenge or musical sophistication, we’d go see the fucking Brodsky Quartet. We didn’t, and we were greatly entertained.

7 thoughts on “TISM, Punters Club, 31 Jan 2002

  1. the word on the street is the punters lease is up for 1/2 a million and landlords are touting it as a band venue not conversion to apartments or cafes or whatever youve heard.

  2. So, not a Country Road then? That rumour’s been back out and about…

    Seeing as the landlord doesn’t own any of the PA, lighting or staging at the Punters, they’d actually only be offering a bare room.

    Can a 300 cap room be made to work with such an enormous rental overhead?

  3. I’m thinking here of a Perth venue from 1991 called the Ozone Bar. It was especially built for the purpose of putting bands on. Excellent sound and visibility; small and large audiences both worked very well indeed.

    In early 1992 it went broke and became … a pool hall.

  4. It’s back David, we (King Wasabi) played there for the opening of the Fringe Festival the other week. Thing I have about it is the total lack of anywhere to sit unless you’re among the first 5 or so people to arrive, and then you’ve got to perch on pathetic cocktail bar stool things. Yes, I know – sitting down at gigs, OH so Perth! But I’ve got hideously disfunctional feet and would rather be seated than in extreme pain all night.. Love yr work and happy birthday Viv xxx

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