The sun beat down and the FOMO creeped in as we waited the 40-odd minutes to gain entry into Schoolhouse Studios. Dick Diver had already kicked off their set, and it felt like a very real possibility that we would miss the entirety of it. But we made it in time to hear their recent single Alice, which went down a treat in the sun-drenched courtyard. Top-notch album-closer Head Back made a somewhat rare live appearance, filling the open space with its jaunty groove.
A late addition following on from their Sugar Mountain sideshow the night prior, Woods brought a very Supernatural Amphiteatre-aura to the confines of Schoolhouse Studios. Their brand of soaring folk suited the outdoor setting splendidly, purveying a fine brand of cruisey jams.
Wearing their influences on the sleeves (and elsewhere) of their fine unitards, Hunx And His Punx ruled as they did at The Tote a week beforehand. Balancing their well-adored classics (You Don’t Like Rock ‘N’ Roll, Teardrops On My Telephone) with new, thrashier material, they pulled off their wide gamut of punk with impossibly cocky aplomb. Hunx was charismatic to the point of infallibility as he mounted the monitor stacks either side of the stage.
Much like they did last Australia Day on Evelyn Rooftop, Thee Oh Sees tore shit up like a pack of god damn machines. With such a formidable, and exponentially growing, back catalogue, their setlist presents a tidy mix of past, present and future releases. Scenes were swingin’, with a compact contingent at the front engaging in a chilled little mosh.
BY LACHLAN KANONUIK
LOVED: Sunshine.
HATED: Vego food running out very early on, beers running out pretty early on.
DRANK: A few tinnies from an emergency beer dash to the bottle-o before Thee Oh Sees.
