Me First and the Gimme Gimmes @ Capitol
w/ The Bob Gordons, Bikini Cops
Thursday, October 12, 2017
When someone tells you that they are going to see a cover band, your first thought turns to the times you have been at the Cas or The Moon & Sixpence (RIP) or a wedding and sung along with bands that stay true to the original songs. Your thoughts almost certainly don’t turn to punk versions of Elton John or John Denver – unless your name happens to be Fat Mike (NOFX) and you see a corner of a market that no one ever asked for. This was why we were all at Capitol last Thursday night.
Bikini Cops opened the night with their brand of hard, fast punk including Pressure, Total Control, Another Planet, My World and finishing with a new song from their upcoming EP. They are always good fun to watch and put on a great show.
The Bob Gordons were the next to take the stage and opened with Stop Hate, Drawer Full of Porn, Dog Rock and a song inspired by John Candy’s character Uncle Buck because seriously – who didn’t love that guy?
What I particularly like about The Bob Gordons is that they don’t take themselves seriously, their banter on stage and their songs are just fun, catchy songs that take you away from the stress of every day life. They ended their set with Wasted, White Rabbit and Magic Glove.
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes came out on stage looking fabulous with white shirts and gold ties. For this tour, although Fat Mike couldn’t make it, we had Spike Slawson, Jay Bentley (Bad Religion), Joey Cape (Lagwagon), Dave Raun (Lagwagon) and, instead of poor Chris Cheney (The Living End) who was only hospitalised the week before, we had the just as talented Lindsay McDougall (Frenzal Rhomb).
They started their set with Summertime, Sloop John B, Do You Believe and Uptown Girl. “How’s it going Perth?” Slawson asked the audience. “I could be a young Paul Simon. Haven’t even met Garfunkel yet!” he added along with some crass jokes before starting with Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard.
If you haven’t seen Me First yet, it’s definitely something else. They dance all over the stage (although I think Slawson and Josh Homme attended the same ‘Dad Dancing’ school as they both have very similar moves – and looks) and they took us on a journey through time and space with the different eras of music. While McDougall looked like he was feeling a bit out of place without his usual band mates, he did an impressive job.
They also played all of their ‘greatestest hits’ including I Believe I Can Fly, Who Put The Bomp, Over The Rainbow, All My Lovin’, I Will Survive and ending the night with End Of The Road.
“Fat Mike couldn’t be here tonight because he’s taking a bath in your money!” Slawson joked and he is right. After all, they have been going for 22 years and are still able to tour as we eat it up as fast as we can. It is highly amusing though, watching the mosh go crazy to songs that you would never think punk fans might dance to let alone sing.
“There’s a fine line between mockery and tribute” Slawson told us. “Perish the thought! We are a cover band. No! Scratch that! We are THE cover band!” and ne’er a truer word has been spoken. Who wants to go and see any old normal cover band when you have the pick of some of the best punk bands covering songs in their own punk way? After seeing Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, you gotta admit – normal is pretty boring.
Words & Photos by
KAREN LOWE
