Old Gigs:1989

In 1989 i was living in Oamaru when me and Chris heard about Flesh D-Vice playing in Dunedin at the Nerve Centre. I'd been thrashing "Secrets Of The Estranged" for a llong time by then, so we hitched down for the show with pockets full of danger. I think we were 17 at the time. We got on the piss before stumbling down there and meeting Gerald Dwyer outside, he tried to sell us some records.
First band up were Moral Fibre from Invercargill. They'd been around for a while and had built up a wicked reputation, and rightly so, cos they played all this powerhouse punk at breakneck speed, tight as fuck. They won a battle of the bands at The Nerve Centre, and toured round a bit, plus did some recording, but i don't think these recordings ever did them justice. Still one of my all time favourite live acts. Gargantuan.
Next up, Gorse from Dunedin. These guys blew me away as well. I'd scored a copy of their "Thorn In Your Scrotum" tape, so fully fronted myself with their ear-splitting barrage. Made up of Jimi on drums, Malc on bass, Ben Robinson on guitar, and John Farrow on vocals, they were round for a year or two and i still fucken love that tape. Colossal.
And finally, Flesh D-Vice. They turned on this smoke machine that filled the place in no time, couldn't see a thing, all you could hear was a recording of that Beatles song, Number 9, then some lights went on and they fucken launched into their set, i'm sure it was Flaming Soul to start. Definitely the most professional set i'd seen down there up till then, and probably since. Just a fucken unforgettable display of power.Gigantic.
What an amazing night that was for us young pecks.
The next day, we were hitching back to Oamaru and got picked up by these dodgy as fuck old school crims, in a brand new Fulton Hogan ute that theyd just stolen. Imagine it, four of us crammed into the front of this thing with the fucken needle off the clock just about all the way!! This cunt was overtaking lines of cars on semi-blind corners and shit, smoking hooters, telling us 'the mushies were starting to come on', and offering us all these different jacks, like pinkies and rollies and dosapan. When we finally arrived in Oamaru and got dropped off, i almost kissed the fucken ground. Hell, i even felt like giving Chris a big wet one, i was just so fucken relieved to be alive. The next day there was a piece in the paper about two guys being arrested after a high speed pursuit from Oamaru to the Cup'n'Saucer (halfway to Timaru). "The offenders were located near the abandoned vehicle, hiding in some long grass". Fuck we laughed. Years later i met one of them through my brother in law. He didn't remember anything about that day, just woke up in the cells. Hahahaha
Anyway, thats when i went and saw Moral Fibre, Gorse, and Flesh D-Vice. Fuck, what i'd give to go and see that lineup again.