QR codes and masks were not a feature at my last Forum gig, but they were firmly ingrained in the standard routine as the crowds began to line up on a warm January Wednesday. After sitting empty for months, it was the injection of humans needed to bring music back to live (pun intended). 

The old standing setup was exchanged for a carefully spaced seating plan, socially distanced and sanitised for your convenience. Frontier touring, Mushroom Group and the Victorian Government had worked to move “Sounds Better Together” to 2021. With tickets under $50, it was a big promotion for the arts and music industry which was decimated by the global pandemic. 

Ironically, the last gig I was scheduled to see back in April 2020, before lady ‘rona cancelled life as we know it, was Bakers Eddy at Cherry Bar. The boys were a couple of weeks away from their headline show when they pulled the pin due to safety concerns. After promoting some new tunes and embracing the bedroom Live stream, I am happy to say they were the opening act for the evening. The space was a big jump up in size and exposure for the Melbourne based rockers.

They kicked off with the energy frontman Ciarran is known for. This guy gave the energiser bunny a run for its money. He was threatening to break through the floor with every jump and while he had the energy for the set, the time away from performing was evident. A rogue mic went flying off into the crowd and lead vocals became patchy. I am a keen Bakers Eddy fan after seeing them open for WAAX in 2019. I know this was unfortunately not the best representation of their raw talent. Hard to tell from my seats at the back, but I think he damaged his voice mid-set (he later confirmed “cooked it”). Trust a band to be so keen for a gig post lockdown that they cook themselves 10 minutes in, rock and roll ain't dead. Fan favourite “Leave it up to me” didn’t have the same *oomf* I was anticipating and the yet to be released “Sober” was missing the Bakers Eddy BAM! But for the minor flaws in their performance, the group got the audience standing up and moving as they closed with their best song of the night, “Can’t afford it”. 

I was still pinching myself at the sight of real-life drums, the feeling of bass pulsing through my chest and blinding lights when Aussie Rock Legends, The Living End walked on. Their experience performing and comfort on stage made me find a new level of awe for musicians. The bass cut out for their first song, twice. While most bands would muddle through or panic at tech issues, they cracked jokes while the sound guys scrambled to get things working. This was the only sound fault; the production was the tightest I have ever seen. The drums were punchy, the guitar was clean, the bass was deep and the vocals – let’s just say there is a reason they are known as one of, if not the best venue in Melbourne. 

Lead singer, Chris Cheney demonstrated why he remains a rock god. No question. Green Day asked him to play when they toured because they were the fans of his talent. The Living End is the Australian Green Day, but better. Chris told the crowd “The number one question I have been asked this week is ‘does it feel strange to be doing a gig?’. No. The strange thing was NOT doing gigs”. After seeing him perform, I can’t even imagine what these guys would do if they weren’t doing shows. It’s like breathing to them. My personal favourite “Second Solution” was early in their hour or so set. Fans drummed along in time with the beat, not missing a moment of the brilliance. The back right of the crowd was standing for most of their songs, while the front seats stayed seated for a suspiciously long time – maybe it was fear of being told off by security or worrying about covid. Safe to say they couldn’t resist joining when everyone was standing and screaming to “White Noise”. 

Chris commented “Melbourne is the rock and roll capital of Australia” and I couldn’t agree more. The venues and bands were determined for live music to return as soon as practical. The punters knew what they came for, I couldn’t help put chuckle when I heard the guy behind me say “The Gretch [guitar] is back. Stand up”. He was right, moments later we were gobsmacked by a massive guitar solo in “All torn down”. The band weren’t taking the night for granted either “We gotta treat these like Farnham. It’s the last one!”. 

The Living End played to their audience, “you guys want hits!” and they delivered, closing off the night with “Uncle Harry”. I don’t know if I dared admit I had never heard it before……but it has been on repeat and added to my favourite playlists. Maybe I can blame it on the fact I was 8 years old when it was released. 20 years later and it would be a Hottest 100 Top 10 contender if released in 2021. 

The gig glow is still real as I write this. This show was an excellent start to what will hopefully be a huge year of music in Melbourne. Bakers Eddy appear to have the makings of a new album coming soon, but nothing confirmed yet. They are scheduled to tour mid-year with Slowly Slowly. The Living End haven’t advertised any other shows at the time of writing this, but no doubt will have a few more covid rescheduled events coming through soon!