Words and photos by Harry Taylor
A chilly night in Cardiff is felt most bitterly when standing, waiting for the doors of the wonderfully intimate Clwb Ifor Bach to open. Descending upon these doors, equally eager and expectant, were fifteen to twenty people, displaying their identification with this music scene through various skull t-shirts, chains, hats, piercings and badges. I felt like the odd one out, there in my Doc Martens, jeans and Nike coat, used to my feeble indie music. However, this is what drew me most to the event: an acceptance of people regardless of what they wore, whatever music they liked before, whether they had never seen the band or even listened to them before.
In fact, anyone who had seen the band from Melbourne play before was witnessing a vastly different Ocean Grove. One that was without original lead singer Luke Holmes, with former bass guitarist Dale Tanner now taking the microphone, and without original guitarist James ÔÇÿJimmyÔÇÖ Hall. The band, though a four-piece on stage, has recorded with only three official members since the mini-exodus in 2019.
The enigmatic three burst through the crowd on their way to the stage. Such is the closeness of the venue that the people who will be worshipped by fans seconds later simply waltzed through the same entrance as everyone else. A notion of unity immediately surges through the music as the band step onto the stage and started playing. Without any pause or recognition of their whereabouts, they burst into their first song SUPERSTAR, an infectious reverberating guitar and drum beat colliding with the terrifically fast flow of Tanner, igniting a raucous energy amongst the loyal pack at the front. SEX DOPE GOLD, a single off the new album came just as strong, with the crowd shouting the title words of the track, and Tanner meeting them in the middle as he sings the overlapping lyrics ÔÇÿHarder and harder againÔÇÖ – a great signpost for the direction the band is going in with their new formation.
Through the swarms of rocking heads and flailing arms, I can barely see the individuals from whom these chaotically harmonious sounds are emerging, with the low stage making them seem as though they are the ring-leaders of a wild crowd. All that is visible is the streamlined, shaved mohawk of Dale Tanner, and the blissful light blue top of bass guitarist Twiggy Hunter as he stands calmly, in contrast to the music. The pink and blue lights create a haze, with the only coherent movements from the crowd being the iconic rock hand gesture, the ÔÇÿsign of the hornsÔÇÖ, aping Tanner himself.
My favourite song of the night came next, GUYS FROM THE GORD, which was one of the many songs that sounded even better live. What followed were two more songs off their last two ÔÇÿnew-eraÔÇÖ Ocean Grove albums (2020ÔÇÖs Flip Phone Fantasy & this yearÔÇÖs Up in the Air Forever), THOUSAND GOLDEN PEOPLE and FLAVA, the latterÔÇÖs riff on everyoneÔÇÖs lips by the end of the song. Between these two songs, Tanner addresses the crowd to ask a show of hands for who had seen them before, and then pronounces ‘Whether youÔÇÖre an old fan or new, welcome to the Old Grove, baby!’ to a round of cheers.
Then came a surprise – as much to me as loyal fans of the old Ocean Grove – because who I believed to be the guy selling the bandÔÇÖs merchandise (as he was, I might add), was actually former singer Luke Holmes. The band announced his arrival on the rest of the UK tours on Instagram on Monday, with a hilarious video of Holmes arriving on a bus, looking at the camera and declaring ‘ItÔÇÖs f***ing me, and IÔÇÖm back from old world ÔÇô letÔÇÖs rip some gigs m***her-f***ers!’. The bearded man in the baseball cap, who last time I had seen him was selling t-shirts, was now above everyone, in the crowd, screaming the words to two songs on the setlist from before he departed from the band. He embraced his surprise performance and squeezed every piece of energy he had out of it: a brilliant cameo from a former frontman that IÔÇÖm sure fans would love to see more of.
Ocean Grove played the rest of their set with the same unbridled intensity, giving fans their first live tastes of singles from the new album such as CALI SUN and LINING as well as some of the fiery tracks off their previous album, with the crowd continuing to enjoy every single second. They brilliantly played out on the final tune and then finished as abruptly as they started: with a bang. They came to do what they wanted to do, they brought the energy and then they left. Brilliant.
IÔÇÖll end with the words of Dale Tanner himself from last night, ÔÇ£We are all about embracing the oddball, the weirdo, the freak! We accept you as you are, and we love you as you are!ÔÇØ Beautiful words which encapsulate exactly what Ocean Grove represents in not just their music, but their performance.
