The Riptides and the Sunnyboys: together again. No wonder the first gig sold out so quickly that they had to quickly arrange a second at the Triffid. Itâs the sort of lineup that those of us with a connection to live music in the 80âs had to see again.
The first time I saw the Riptides was in 1988 at the Griffith Uni Refectory. I was 15. I used a fake ID to get in, and I was shitting myself. But I had to see this band. Iâd been introduced to the Riptides when âRiptides Resurfaceâ, their live album was released. GANGgajang were already an established act by this stage, but frontman Mark âCalâ Callahan obviously had a fond affection for his first band, and so Orientation week each year was an opportunity for some Riptides reunion gigs. The gig blew my 15 year old brain apart. It was louder and faster and sweatier and more fun than I had imagined it could possibly be. It was my live music initiation, and the memory is strong.
These days, Riptides reunion gigs are fewer and further between. Last time was at Pig City in 2007. The time before that was in 2001, a tribute gig to band member Michael Hiron who had passed away. Iâll be honest, seeing the Riptides again was the reason I bought a ticket. Seeing the Sunnyboys was just a bonus. Or so I thought.
Hereâs the thing about the Riptides: the songs are fun. Theyâre a happy band playing happy songs (well, mostly happy songs) and I always had the feeling that Cal loved playing these songs. And so it was again. You could see it written all over his face. It is an older face than the one I first saw in 1988 but so is mine, and so was every other face in the place. And it was a happy face, and so was mine, and so was every other face in the place. Big shit-eating happy grins as song after song took us back to a time when we were younger and more energetic and had more hair and less weight around the mid-section (not Cal though, heâs still as skinny as he was when he was first on Countdown).
From the opening song Holiday Time, you could see that he still loves these songs. And so began a happy little stroll through the Riptides greatest live songs: Only Time, The Day has Gone, Eternal Flame, Money for Life, Tomorrowâs Tears, Hearts and Flowers, The Power of Love. I looked around and saw nothing but smiling faces and joyous singing: âYou know that I canât cry tomorrowâs tears, tomorrowâs tears today, oh ho!â Happy days.
The music hasnât dated, at least not in the ears of long term fans. It seems like we all knew every word, and perhaps some of the words made more sense now than they did then. The Day Has Gone is a song about the daily commute home from work on the train: perhaps more relevant now that weâre all decidedly middle aged than it did when we were teenagers. One of my favourite lyrics of all time comes from Hearts and Flowers: âPut your hands in to your pockets, do you give or do you take?â Iâm a parent now, and that question means something entirely different to what it meant when life was all about me.
And then they played Tombs of Gold. âThe Egyptian Love Songâ. Now this is the song that I remember most clearly from 1988. Itâs a song especially written for sweaty young kids to smack into each other at high speed and in a good natured manner, with conveniently spaced rest periods of slower tempo so we could catch our breath again before the next chorus and surge of intensity. There was less slamming this time round. But I think we could all remember it, and that was enough.
Shake It, as always, is an awesome way to signal that the end is nigh, and they finished off with their classic single, 77 Sunset Strip. The band was happy. We were happy. The room was full of smiles. Have we just seen the Riptides for the last time? I hope not.
And then it was time for the Sunnyboys. I donât have a 1988 story about the Sunnyboys. This was the first time I have seen them. I missed them the first time round, the original lineup split up in 1984. A second line up played until the early 90âs, but I never saw them live. I knew nothing about the reasons why the band, and lead singer Jeremy Oxley had disappeared from the scene. Not until I saw The Sunnyboy, Â the documentary about Oxleyâs battle with schizophrenia. If you have not seen it, please do. It puts so much about the band, the songs, and the recent comeback into amazing perspective.
And now the big admission: I was not expecting much from this gig. I knew Iâd enjoy it, but Iâm embarrassed to admit now, I thought theyâd be a pale imitation of their former selves. I have never been so glad to be so wrong.
âFuck theyâre tight!â said the guy beside me about three songs in. He was right.
Jeremy Oxley had to battle hard to get himself to a point where he could get himself on stage again. But he doesnât look like heâs entirely comfortable up there. He doesnât make much eye contact, and he doesnât talk to the crowd - guitarist Richard Burgman and Bassist brother Peter Oxley do most of that. And it seemed to me like it took a couple of songs before Jeremy was convinced that we like him, and like his music. And maybe he was never completely convinced. But speaking on behalf of me and the people around me, it was pretty clear that we do.
But despite Jeremyâs demons, and perhaps a bit because of them, the band sounds amazing. Jeremyâs vocals are still strong, and the playing was, well âFuck theyâre tight!â is right. If some of the Riptides songs make more sense to older ears, then all of the Sunnyboys songs make more sense when you realise they were written by a young man going through his own private hell: My Only Friend, Trouble in My Brain, Happy Man - I think the song order there was very deliberate. A micro version of the emotional ride heâs been on all these years. He looked up at the end of Happy Man, one of the few times all night that he did so. I think he has saying âYes I am, Iâm a happy man.â Or maybe Iâm just reading too much into it.
They work hard on stage. And like the Riptides, you can see that they are enjoying being a band again, playing these songs again. Show Me Some Discipline, a clear crowd favourite, brought with it three things: overhead hand clapping, snarling guitars, and a noticeable relaxing in Jeremyâs body language. Maybe he needed to see us clapping to be able to relax. Or maybe Iâm just reading too much into it.
Love in a Box is the song you sing when someone says âWho?â when you say âThe Sunnyboys. Surprisingly it was not their most successful song, but it seems to be the one that has stuck in peopleâs brains. That little pinging guitar riff is so memorable, and sounded so good in the sweaty Triffid.
Oh yes, the sweat. Dear people of The Triffid, would it have killed you to put some fans in the place? My god it was getting hot in there. We were all feeling it. âIâm getting too old for this shit,â thought more than one of us. And perhaps not just in the crowd.
But fuck the heat, the classic Sunnnyboys songs kept coming: Tomorrow Will be Fine, Itâs Not Me, The Stooge, You Need a Friend (wooh-oh-oh-oh we all sang). Iâm Shaking sent shivers down my spine:âI went out for a 5 minute walk / I came back and everyone had gone to sea / I can see the time has come / To tell you youâre the only one who lets me breathe.â
They took a well earned break while we all caught our breath. When they came back on you could see that Jeremy was struggling. Hands on hips as he sang The Seeker, he held on to the mic stand and at one stage looked like he was in trouble. Before the song had ended (his part had) he left the stage again. We kept cheering, encouraging, hoping, there was one song left, one obvious song left that couldnât go unplayed.
The band came back on. âYouâre going to have to work a bit harder if you want Jeremy to come backâ said Richard. So we did work harder, and so Jeremy did come back on, and so they did play Alone With You, and we did sing along, and we did love it.
And in a way, it kind of summed it all up. Weâre all a lot older than we were when these songs were written. They mean different things to all of us now than they did then, but they are a link back to a younger us. Music is awesome like that: it connects you to different parts of your memory. But it also updates those memories. The Riptides and the Sunnyboys have long occupied a part of my brain, and now Iâve added to that, and Iâm very, very happy that they gave this gift to me.
Images: Cat Anderson / Tony Huddy
Music: Sunnyboys / The Riptides
Thursday 12th March 2015, The Triffid
