Mammal at Candy's Apartment, Sydney

Band: Mammal
Venue: Candy's Apartment, Sydney
Date: 26th October 07
Reviewed By: Glen

This punter has seen Mammal performing live a dozen or so times over the last year or two and they have never failed to please. Even when I've been too tired/sick/hungry/drunk to care about being at a gig, the moment they walked on stage I felt like I was smacked in the face, shaken up, had my head dunked in icy water and then thrown about to put me in the mood. And I've never left a Mammal gig disappointed. Actually, I've always left a Mammal gig feeling like I've just dropped a few pills!!! Despite this, I've never come to have any expectations from a Mammal gig. They do what they do, and they do it brilliantly, and I'd rate all their gigs at least 11.5/10.

So tonight as Zeke and the boys stormed on stage with Zeke roaring a guttural "HELL YEAH" I knew I was in for another treat. However, soon into the first song it became apparent that Nick's bass guitar was having issues, and Mammal did what I consider to be the biggest no-no a band could do. They unforgivably stopped mid song! They waited till the bass was fixed. Then they restarted song number one from scratch. Most bands would have stormed on regardless of a minor technical hitch and with Zeke's no fucking around attitude, I was most surprised that he insisted on the band stopping.

I do not know if it was this technical hitch that made the band (and therefore the crowd) lose their momentum, or whether it just wasn't Mammal's night, but there was something not quite right tonight. I cant put my finger on what it was - Zeke's vocals were as good as ever, and the band rocked....but the gig just seemed to lack the usual fire that it has.

Whilst I was glad that Zeke didn’t go on his usual ranting and raving about sociopolitical issues, perhaps the fact that he didnt do this was another symptom that things werent as spot on as they should have been.

Dont get me wrong, it was still an awesome gig - but anyone who has seen Mammal will understand me when I say there is an amazing raw energy that Mammal exudes when they play, and this wasn't quite there tonight. Had it been the first time I saw Mammal I'm sure I would have loved the gig... but this one stopped just short of the line. 9/10 I'd say.