The Null Device

Strange Tenants CD launch

The Strange Tenants gig was quite good. The crowd was quite diverse, from grey-haired middle-aged couples (who may well have met at a Tenants gig in the early 80s) to young skinhead types (whilst waiting in the queue outside, I overheard one short-cropped geezer talking to his mates about some guy he beat up), punks and rudeboys. (I've never seen so many guys wearing hats at the Corner.) The band themselves were dressed in a very 1980s way (wearing a lot of black, sunglasses and (in one case) a natty-looking leather jacket), and they rocked quite a bit. They even had a new song, all about nostalgia for the old days of ska, though it wasn't quite as sharp as their old numbers. Given the left-wing, anti-militarist and sometimes anti-US tone of some of their songs, and their dedications (to Bush and to the children of Iraq, in two cases), I wonder how much of their decision to come out of retirement was influenced by the political situation. (Good to know that they haven't turned into Tories with time.)

There are 6 comments on "Strange Tenants CD launch":

Posted by: zardoz http://zardoz.hotblack.net Sat Mar 29 20:25:50 2003

Was a great show :) I, too, was there. First time I've heard the Tenants play live. I wonder how long it'll take till somebody posts some of the video they recorded - I saw about eight DV cameras at the event (and I didn't bring mine, which is just over a week old!). I'm still rather new to the ska scene. I did recognise a lot of other band members there as well, including some members of 99% FAT, User Friendly and The Porkers.

Incredible what a google search turns up these days..

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Sun Mar 30 07:52:38 2003

I got some photos of the gig. I may post them at some stage.

Posted by: skatracey Sat Sep 6 01:30:06 2003

hey you know i did a search for Strange Tenants - Ska'd for life and got to your blob. da dada da..... it's so rockin to come across ska fans talking about The Australian Godfathers of Ska. Anyways I read what you all thought and wanted to tell you about my experience that night. I had travelled from another state especially for the gig. A few people I know did this. It was an event that all "the old farts" wanted to be at. To a lot of these guys and girls (who ranged from 32 to 53) it was THE ska event NEVER to miss. Unfortunately many in the crowd didn't realise that it was the "who's who" from an Australian Ska History point of view. I know I was talking to one guy and telling him whow much I loved this band called No Nonsense. Little did I know for about 20 minutes, I had been raving them to him. I found out he was the drummer. OMG! I nearly died. By the way girls, he's pretty cute for his age. Once the penny dropped as to who I was talking to - I ran away literally. Now I'm not to tell y

Posted by: skatracey Sat Sep 6 01:31:27 2003

I found out he was the drummer. OMG! I nearly died. By the way girls, he's pretty cute for his age. Once the penny dropped as to who I was talking to - I ran away literally. Now I'm not to tell you about every person... but I wanted to share what happened to me. I saw The Strange Tenants in the 80's. That nite was like magic to me. I stood there looking at fans much younger than me, they enjoyed the band I have love for many years. Now they could know what I have known. The energy they generate has not been lost, they are older but fuck these guys STILL have IT! I cried. I was so happy. I mobiled phone my sister for 20 minutes who couldn't get there.

OK - so i got all emo- shoot me :D

Shame we couldn't get No Nonsense back ... woah!

Cheers Trace

*** Ska Advertisments***

Skabar the first Thursday of each month- Art House.

Radio Tune Melbourne PBS 106.7 FM Not so Sensible SKa SHow Brisbane/ GOld COast/ Sunshine Coast : SKatrek 102.1 FM Thursday 8-10 pm

*** Shameless Sel

Posted by: skatracey Sat Sep 6 01:32:01 2003

Skabar the first Thursday of each month- Art House.

Radio Tune Melbourne PBS 106.7 FM Not so Sensible SKa SHow Brisbane/ GOld COast/ Sunshine Coast : SKatrek 102.1 FM Thursday 8-10 pm

*** Shameless Self Promotion***

Look out for "Wrong Way" in October 2003. (ie not uploaded online until 1 Oct 2003)

http://www.wrongway.com.au

Ska fans will celebrate this new Australian online store.

Music and much much more!

The owner, Tracey Newman a devoted ska fan herself.

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Sat Sep 6 09:40:24 2003

That's nice. Though in future, could you keep your comments at a reasonable length?