Spiderbait, The Meanies, The Gnomes, Rosie And The Posies @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 25/7/2026
Thirty years of Ivy & The Big Apples is a massive milestone worthy of a huge celebration playing to a sold out Hindley Street Music Hall. The affinity between Adelaide and Spiderbait is a special one and it does not matter where they are playing there will always be a huge turnout. Saturday night was no different. Even starting at half six there was already a massive crowd in the venue ready for a massive night of Australian music. The legacy and the impact of this album, their third, can’t be understated or downplayed either standing the testing of time with some big hit singles and some forgotten gems which were great to hear. Add to that the broad range of age of fans there reflects some awesome parenting bringing their kids up on a healthy dose of Spiderbait and the next generation of fans to carry on the legacy.
What an opportunity for Adelaide band Rosie And The Posies winning a competition to get the coveted local support. No nerves and just letting the rock take care of that. Their future is bright building on the two singles released so far and it is very much a case of watch this space and the future looks very promising.
Frankston garage rockers The Gnomes were fantastic living up to the reputation of playing a killer live show. Hot damn! Incredible! I can only see an upward trajectory for these guys. Think Kinks, Easybeats, early Beatles paints a pretty accurate picture. It would be quite easy to list all their songs for the highlights reel but holy smokes how good was I’m Not The One, Flippin’ Stomp and I Like It? My mind’s blown! The Gnomes will be headlining their own shows to big crowds here to big crowds and not “like four people” last time.
Kram assumed the role of MC thanking and introducing the bands it was a little special for him introducing The Meanies who “if it wasn’t for them, we would not be here”. Straight up punk rock with plenty of bravado. The crowd loved it and so did I. Vocalist Link Meanie really commanded attention giving everything and leaving nothing to spare. The way he threw himself around I thought he might do himself an injury and by set’s end he looked physically spent. There was a pretty good spread of The Meanies classics with favourites including 10% Weird, Old Car To Shangri-La and Gangrenous.
The stage was smouldering and Spiderbait took the stage to a huge Adelaide welcome. Plenty of love for Kram, Janet and Whitt and amongst themselves as well. The chemistry amongst them is something you wish you could bottle up and sell. They have survived the ups and downs being in a band with the same line-up so they definitely deserve all the accolades and rewards celebrating such an important milestone like this. There was no surprises with the set list playing Ivy & The Big Apples start to end in full.
Kicking off with a rockin’ opener Chest Hair it didn’t take long for the crowd to get in to it with two big singles Hot Water And Milk and Buy Me A Pony To Follow. Hindley Street Music Hall really did come alive with the first crowd surfer up and about on the first of the instrumentals When Fusion Ruled The Earth. The wasn’t much chat with the crowd focusing let this classic album talk the talk. Calypso was awesome, massive sing-a-long and Janet couldn’t hide that smile. Kram was full of admiration for Janet with plenty of hugs and encouraging the crowd to show their appreciation. Horschack Army kept “the party’ going and from here it was rowdy and chaotic. Probably not the spot if you wanted to stand there with your arms folded being a passive observer. Janet and Kram swapped roles on Joyce’s Hut and Whitt on vocals.
The are plenty of gems on this album with the likes of Goin’ Off, Don’t Kill Nipper and Conjunctivitis which were a pleasure to hear. Hawaiian Nights had plenty of crowd participation with plenty of clapping and it was hard to believe that the album was played in full finishing on Driving Up The Ceiling.
As the band left the stage Kram said that they might play the hidden track encouraging the crowd to cheer for it. Who doesn’t love a hidden track? One the fascinating aspects of owning CD’s and listening right to the very end. The crowd cheered and they got it playing the hidden track Big Furry Green Monster. The remainder of the set was like a greatest hits selection including the likes of Shazam and Outta My Head. Kram said he wanted to share three words “You’re fuckin’ awesome” which served as the perfect preamble to Fucken Awesome. Fans were yelling out for most of the night for Old Man Sam which followed. There was no way they could leave without playing the Ram Jam cover they have made their own in Black Betty. It was epic spanning some ten minutes to finish off a brilliant night.
Raise a glass to thirty years of Ivy & The Big Apples!
Live Review By Rob Lyon