Brisbane’s The Triffid (6 April) was engulfed in darkness and a loud, ambient hum.
Guitars in hand, Melbourne rockers Motor Ace emerged from the darkness – their first time on a Brisbane stage in 14 years. The band has reunited for the first time since 2005 to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and the crowd’s excitement exploded when the lights revealed all four members standing together again.
Local opener Hallie gripped her electric guitar as she stood alone on the stage. “I haven’t played without my band for a long time,” she admitted.
The singer-songwriter’s courage arrived when she strummed some bright chords and showed her expressive vocal range. Hallie’s character fully emerged in her lyrics, especially with quips like “Take a f...ing hint or a kick to the head”.
Sydney musician Mocking Bird stood on firmer ground during her solo set. She stomped her heavy boots to the rhythm of her blues riffs. She swapped between rockers and ballads, instructing the audience during the latter: “No talking. These are my feelings and they’re real.”
While there was chatter, the crowd was silenced by the dark, brooding riff of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘State Trooper’, all attention on Mocking Bird’s howls and moans.
David Ong’s squalling guitar lick introduced Motor Ace’s opening tune ‘Keeping Secrets’. Opening with a popular song is a bold move, but the risk was outweighed by Damian Costin’s muscular drums and the guitars of Patch Robertson and David soaring into the chorus.
The band played songs from each of their three albums. The bouncy riff of single ‘Criminal Past’ put a spring in fans’ movements, while the rousing fan favourite ‘Lorenzo’ inspired sing-alongs.
The band’s chemistry was still strong, making their songs sound as fresh and grand as when they were first released.
The only weakness was Patch’s voice, which strained through most of their set. While tuneful, higher notes in songs like early track ‘Five Star Laundry’ seemed out of reach. His voice slightly warmed for ‘Where Did You Go?’ – “The best song off the ‘Shoot This’ album,” Patch added.
He pushed his voice to do the song justice; his furrowed brow showed the stress of sustained notes on his vocals. Backing vocals from David and bassist Matt Balfe helped lift Patch’s voice during choruses and enabled him to reach closer to those higher notes.
As the final chords of ‘Siamese’ faded, Patch announced the band would be “back in a minute”. The intermission was jarring, but the band returned stronger than before for the hit-filled remainder of their set.
The monster riff of ‘Hey Driver’ had fans pushing their way closer to the stage. Patch’s voice had warmed up considerably and stayed in fine form to the finish.
Before closing with ‘Carry On’, Patch turned to Matt and said: “Hopefully we can come back soon.” Matt smiled and nodded back at Patch, making fans hope the wheels on this reunion continue spinning.
