Wheatus @ the Waterfront
"I’ve got two tickets to the Wheatus gig baby, come with me Sunday, don't say maybe"
King of the Teenage Dirtbags, Brendan B. Brown is all up in our faces again with the return of Wheatus for their 15 Year Anniversary Tour (…yes it’s been 15 years, 15, thats right…we’re all feeling old, don't worry). King BBB brought some talented friends with him along for the UK tour; The Ventura Project, Gabrielle Sterbenz and Mike Doughty.
The Ventura Project’s Joey Slater and Matthew Milligan started the evening's proceedings nice and gently with the sounds of acoustic synths. Gabrielle Sterbenz cranked the volume up a little with the help of a blue haired drummer and Joey Slater, now raising the stock value again for the surf green Fender Stratocaster since, well since Tom DeLonge’s departure from Blink-182. Gabrielle’s The Breakup was funnily enough pretty upbeat and certainly one to treat your ears to. With the crowd warmed up Mike Doughty took centre stage, backed by six band members; Gabrielle Sterbenz and Joey Slater on backing vocals, Matthew Milligan on bass, Mark 'The-Cupcake' Palmer on keys, Leo Freire on drums and Brendan B. Brown on backing vocals and guitar…so basically Wheatus, with Mike Doughty singing and conducting his own stellar tracks. If you're wondering what this sounds like, the answer is a cool coming together of hip-hop and Beck-like country lyrics to create an enthralling fusion.
Now the crowd were ready for the Wheatus set to begin; it had only been, like, 15 years. They got the masses in motion, opening with Leroy. As Brendan had already performed as his own support, he’d already built a rapour with the crowd chatting with a few fans and happily played shout outs; Lemonade, Truffles, Sunshine. It was his 42nd birthday too, and the crowd knew it. A shout out for Happy Birthday is made as with a twist of gig etiquette the crowd now sing back to Brendan on his special day. It was surprises all round from then on, Wheatus playing new track 14, a jamming session of Hump’em n’ Dump’em, Little Respect, Wannabe Gangsta, BMX Bandits, Love Is A Mutt From Hell, and then of course, the track everyone had been waiting for, Teenage Dirtbag. It was worth the wait. Mike returned to stage after previously teasing the crowd with the track, to actually singing a verse and again, wishing Brendan a happy birthday along with the crowd wrapping the night up.
If you missed out on the chance to sing to a good friend…or future lover “I’ve got two tickets to the Wheatus gig baby, come with me Sunday, don't say maybe, I’m just a Teenage Dirtbag, baby, like you-oooooooooooo” well you missed out ,and so did your plus one. Fingers crossed for the 30 Year Anniversary Tour!
