Three American presidents. Seven Australian Prime Ministers. Fourteen generations of iPhone.
These are just some of the things have changed since Electric Six last made their way to Australia – having last toured the country at the tail end of 2005.As a make-good for the almost 18-year absence, the Detroit comedy-rockers have come very well prepared – with not one, but two full sets for tonight's sold-out performance (4 March) at Manning Bar.
While this would seem a little overkill in certain contexts with other bands, it's to the Six's credit that they're able to maintain both interest and energy across each one.
First up, a set that's described by frontman Dick Valentine as "a grab-bag of favourites". Despite long being off the mainstream radar, the band have remained especially prolific over the years – with a dizzying 15 studio albums in total.
What ensues is a guided tour of sorts across their discography – much of which was not released the last time the band played locally.
On the groovy 'Down At McDonnelzzz', Valentine espouses the joys of the legally-separate titular entity; on the funky 'Who The Hell Just Call My Phone?', Valentine barks the titular phrase as the disco drums pound and longtime sideman Johnny Na$hinal chicken-picks the strutting guitar line.
"You could have been anywhere tonight!" says Valentine at one point. "You could have been at Harry Styles!"
He even drives it home by adding in a tease of 'Adore You' into the bridge of 'Germans In Russia' – and while the Manning Bar is no stadium, it still feels massive. It's all completely absurd, naturally, but anyone who's been with the band long-term would expect nothing less.
On that note, the main event arrives in style for the second set: The band's gold-certified 2003 debut, 'Fire' – in its entirety, with the pauses, as Dick Valentine intended it to be heard.
Having served as the band's ticket to the world upon its release 20 years ago, this anniversary celebration allows for the whole shebang to be given its moment in the spotlight in front of an audience that would have thrashed it back in the day – be it from paying $29.95 for it at Sanity, or burning a copy off a mate, or even assembling it MP3 by MP3 over on Limewire or Kazaa.
It was the style at the time, folks – as, of course, was writing a snarling glam-rock track about starting a nuclear war at the gay bar.
'Dance Commander' gets bodies moving, 'Danger! High Voltage!' heats things up even further and 'Improper Dancing' elicits plenty of just that. Valentine maintains his ironic-lothario swagger, while Na$hinal and fellow guitarist Da Vé churn through the lavishly-OTT riffs with aplomb.
Really, the only notable drawback from performing the album in its original start-to-finish tracklist is the fact you're effectively blowing your load early.
Once the crowd-surfing and huge sing-along gets going for 'Gay Bar', it's nigh-on impossible to get that momentum back – even if the ensuing songs are plenty of fun as well.
Ending the night on the knowingly-cheesy 'Synthesizer', as 'Fire' does, feels like a missed opportunity. Rules were made to be broken, after all.
Despite this small con, the pros have certainly outweighed in this surprisingly long-awaited return from Electric Six.
"If you want us to come back, sign the petition at the merch desk," Valentine quips. He jokes – as he always does – but don't be surprised if pages upon pages of signatures demanding another tour end up in Parliament House sometime soon.
