In a week when Rupert Murdoch belatedly tried to counter his reputation as an olde worlde media luddite by signing himself up to the moment’s flavour of the week social media phenomenon, a more significant announcement flew almost below the local music radar. Amid the standard serve of tweeting tedium and self-indulgent trivia, Sand Pebbles drummer Wes Holland declared that tonight’s gig at the Old Bar – a benefit for the Familia Moja Children’s Home – was likely to be the Pebbles’ last gig for an indefinite period.
In some ways, it wasn’t an entirely surprising development – the Sand Pebbles have played three times as many interstate gigs in the last six weeks as they’ve played previously in their entire band history – but it was potentially calamitous, nonetheless.
The Old Bar on a Thursday night in early January wasn’t particularly auspicious timing for a farewell gig, but then again, the Sand Pebbles have never professed to be a conventional band. The set began with the evocative rumbling pop of Natalie, the only ingredient lacking in tonight’s performance being co-writer Dave Graney’s irreverent on-stage prose.
From there it was laconic step to the present with the reflective adult-angst of Because I Could, a song that must one day be played adjacent to its companion piece, Future Proofed. On Long, Long Ago, the Pebbles blended the spirit of David Crosby with its patented brand of musical lysergic acid, bending and stretching the track into hitherto unknown shape and form. Chris Hollows dedicated Wild Season to the Pebbles’ dedicated fans; the song itself ducked and weaved with the viscous poise of Hollows’ former St Kilda teammate Gilbert McAdam, while Black Sun Ensemble expanded and contracted with a galactic intensity worthy of Cambridge scientific study.
After a plea from the venue management for one final track, the band returned to the stage for a typically invigorating cover of Julian Cope’s Out Of Mind On Dope And Speed, augmented by the presence on stage of a few socially excited punters. As the gig crashed into its finale, it was hard to believe this could be the end of an era. And if it was, it was a perfect high to go out on.
LOVED: The love in the air during Out Of My Mind On Dope And Speed.
HATED: The fear that this may be the last Sand Pebbles gig for an indefinite period.
DRANK: Cooper’s Pale Ale.
