Back in the mists of time past, many many moons ago, when PT was a callow youth at boarding school with uninformed and unformed musical taste I came across Pavlov’s Dog. My roommate had a turntable, with a modest and eclectic selection of LPs.
One was Pampered Menial. It wasn’t one of Paul’s favourites but it enraptured me … the songs, the instrumentation, the themes, the vocals, the artwork. And that stuck.
A Missouri based prog rock group with a some Nordic/Gothic/cosmic tendencies might not seem the most logical fit with regional Australia. But we did give their only real chart succcesses inc platinum for PM in 1975. To collect that was the only time prior Surkamp had ventured to these shores.
I’ve had both their signature albums close to hand ever since.
So when their first Australian tour date was announced back in April for yesterday (Oct 17th) I jumped at the opportunity and been patiently waiting. Then real life intervened and I had a minor stroke on Oct 2nd. The once-in-a- lifetime chance/decision to attend passed into the hands of the medical profession. Even more excruciatingly, onto getting to rehab last week, my hospital bed is a mere 2km from the venue. But some biomedical planets aligned and I was given a gate pass. [happy jig]
Expectations.
They are here on a legacy tour, though there is new release out. Their best was 50 years ago. The signature voice could not have gained power or range since. Shit, the man’s 74. Expectations were on a tight leash.
Some grumbles.
They didn’t have a warm-up act so kept us waiting (standing) for 30 mins.
The venue holds about 500, it was neatly full so some 350-400 there, I guess.
It was standing room only, except for the bank of about a dozen patrons in wheelchairs.
Given the age demographic there would have put me a bit under the average aged patron, the lack of consideration for those with reconstructions, pacemakers, arthritis … and strokes was disappointing..
Before taking the stage, their intro was Supertramp. Really.
When occasionally let off his leash, lead guitar seemed inclined to think he was up front for Pink Floyd.
Conversely.
They took to the stage with six. Surkamp, lead, bass, drums, keyboard and violin. Some videos seen from their more recent tours had much larger ensembles, without enhancement IMHO.
There were no backing singers. Surkamp was flying solo.
The set started with Late November. I thought, if he can hit this one right we might be off to the races. He didn’t but it was a bloody good, passable attempt. The crowd seemed to relax.
They went through the pick of tracks from Pampered Menial and At The Sound of The Bell. Played them well. Wasn’t that much exuberance displayed in the mosh pit but the Zimmerframes in the audience oscillated in synch.
I had to leave at intermission to make my hospital curfew so didn’t hear them play “Julia”. A misfortune, but I got to hear Megan’s Song, Mersey and Natchez Trace. The long ago memories have not been bespoiled. A happy munchkin after a grand evening out.
