National Pornographic opened for the night with a tight set, the lead singer pulling out his best Gene Simmonds Kiss-like guitar licks and tongue whippings to an appreciative, small crowd. NP take the funky rap that Fizard do so well and add a much more rock-inspired take on it, part Primus and part Beastie Boys, with the talented DJ and instrumentation to match. All good fun.
Fizard were noticeably depleted tonight. With big voiced and equally large- presence-carrying frontman, Weapon X, away on National MC Contest duties, and the tragic loss of their original bass player to a near-fatal accident 10 weeks earlier, the mood was a little more sombre than usual. Ken Hall took over duties for the Weapon and seemed to be having a good time, sitting on stage between breakouts on the mic, while regular rap impressario Moriarty conducted the orchestra at the back and talked to the girls down front. The usual tight pairing of Finn noodling away over the keyboards on the left while Paulie strums through a nicely melodic set of guitar licks on the right, all held together by Jason’s rock solid beats at the back and the new bass player doing well beside him, was encouraging for the future.
But there was just a spark missing from the band tonight. Perhaps it was the freezing air and rain outside – who doesn’t hate Melbourne in the cold of Winter? Until the last 3 songs, where old favourite ‘Kunnavamen’ got a workout and seemed almost as fresh as the day the boys 1st recorded it way back when, there was a fair amount of lacklustre feet shuffling beforehand. Whatever the reason, and I’ve detailed a few already that might have caused them to misfire, we weren’t used to seeing the band quite this laidback. Fizard’s strength has, beyond their obvious musical ability, always been their energy and interaction with the crowds and tonight that wasn’t there in its usual abundance.
Still, while we all wait for the inevitable, but long-time-coming debut album to finally emerge on the streets, Fizard remain a vital and engaging live act. Though even a band as consistent as they have been, have their off-nights, we can expect the release of new songs and touring the album to inject some fresh life soon. Look for Spring (just a few short months away) to bring plenty of new energy into a young band with a very bright future.
