Tumbleweed @ Badlands
w/ The Floors, Purple Urchin
Friday, July 6, 2018
Walking into Badlands on Friday night, you would have been excused for thinking that you had walked back in time to the 90s. The playlist in the garden was very much 90s oriented and we were there, of course to see Tumbleweed play their debut LP in its entirety for the first time ever.
Purple Urchin (from Dunsborough) was the first to take to the stage and opened with 1st Time, Cali and Whiskey. They have an excellent sound and a familiarity with 80s Aussie Pub Rock Anthems, but with a modern, bluesy twist.
They ended their set with Faith, Barbarella and Mistress. While there was a decent enough crowd watching them, it’s just a shame that more people weren’t there to check these guys out.
The Floors were up next and even though they had just gotten back from Europe, they played a frenetic set as always but with Todd Pickett on drums as Ashley Doodkorte was in Amsterdam. They started with Medication, Meat, Built From Bones and Pick Up Your Bones. If you haven’t seen The Floors yet, they are a band that you really need to check out as they are Perth’s best downright and dirty blues/rock band.
They finished with Got To Move, Join The Fight and I Want To Know. “Thanks to Tumbleweed and Purple Urchin for having us!” Luke Dux told the crowd. Why these guys aren’t bigger than they are still astounds me. Absolute class act.
By this time, Badlands was packed full of people and the room buzzing with anticipation. From the minute Tumbleweed stepped out on stage, they owned the room and didn’t stop moving the entire time on stage. They played their very first album in its entirety, in the order that it was recorded, and while it took a few songs, before long, the floor was pumping.
Someone from the crowd screamed out for a song. “All good things come to those who wait.” Richie Lewis told them. They finished the album and that was really when the mosh opened up as they played Daddy Long Legs, Stoned, Carousel, Shakedown, Silver Lizard and Mountain. “We’d like to leave you with this little number,” Lewis said as he told us about going to Tafe with a witch as they finished with Rainbow Waterwillow. “Thank you and good night!”
While everyone there could have done with more Tumbleweed, we all left with satisfied smiles on our faces. One thing that was plainly obvious though and what really reinforced the idea that we had stepped back into the 90s was that hardly anyone took out their mobile phones and most of us just enjoyed the show for what it was. Of course, that could have also been the fact that the majority of us there were clearly over 30.
It was an absolute pleasure to watch Tumbleweed perform their first album in full and hopefully, they will be back before long. Maybe next time to play Galactaphonic in its entirety?
KAREN LOWE
Photos by Linda Dunjey
