The Saints

As a music fan, there’s always that one show that you want to be at. The one where, 15 years down the track, you lean back knowingly in your chair, and say to your friends, with that note of superiority, “Oh, yes, I was there…” This brings us to Brisbane, the home of the world’s first punk single, which was written and performed by The Saints way back in 1976. It’s also the setting for Pig City – an event based on the musical history documented in Andrew Stafford’s book of the same title – where, in front of a freezing crowd, The Saints play a proper show in their original form for the first time since the late 70s, Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey having put much bad blood behind them.

As with most reunion concerts, it’s a struggle for the band to overcome the performance-based disadvantages that come with age, coupled with the preconceptions of their audience. It’s especially hard when your band is weighted with such legendary status. For the most part, The Saints do an alright job. Chris Bailey’s louche attitude and contempt for his audience is still pretty intact – though he cuts a near ridiculous figure at points. Probably drunk on red wine, flailing his arms about and yelling unintelligible diatribes about the Hillsong religious movement is all part of his performance tonight.

His treatment of the material on display isn’t bad, but what made The Saints, and the punk rock movement itself, special was the fire of youth, and there’s a lot missing within the framework of the songs when you take that away. This goes for the rest of the band as well. On guitar Ed Kuepper looks more than capable and energetic, but there’s a fair amount of punch and sleaze missing from, say, ‘Know Your Product’, that has nothing to do with the incredibly robust horn section on display. It, like many of the songs being aired out tonight, sounds a little too mid-paced for a band famed as being the original purveyors of Punk Rock.

Sure, the curiosity factor is there, but taking The Saints out of their relevant timeframe and political framework makes this appearance feel sort of pointless. As is the case with the large majority of reunions, one tends to feel on some level that the past should just be left where it is. Regardless, this is a fairly solid musical performance from a highly influential group who deserve the dues – monetary and otherwise – being paid to them tonight.

by Jo Nilson