Let’s be clear, this reviewer arrived unfashionably late to the gig, due to my efforts trying to rally a contingent of uninitiated punters on a road trip up to Cairns from Gordonvale. There were several other awesome bands playing the Jobstopper “It Was Like That When We Got Here” CD launch at the Grand Hotel on Saturday night prior to my arrival, including Meat Bikini (just missed em – bah), Tropic Roots, Hungry Lungs, and Odius. Sweat soaked punters attested all these bands all played great sets. Ben Daniels played acoustic solo sets on the public bar stage between band sets earlier in the evening.

It was a heartening sight to pull up outside the Grand Hotel and see it overflowing with punters all enthused about the quality original acts they had been enjoying all night. Kudos to the Grand Hotel for having the vision to take a chance on original music instead of the usual cover band fare. They certainly reaped the rewards on Saturday night!

Come about 10.30pm and the main act, Jobstopper, hit the stage. The boys somehow seemed to fit a 7 piece band onto the tiny Grand Hotel stage and make it work, and work well. With a few skanking guitar chords and a blast from the brass section the boys were off, and so were the crowd. It took about 30 seconds into the 2nd song before the first of the crowd surfers were flying about gloriously above the tightly packed crowd. Later on in the set, the bands inflatable sex doll mascot “Skalette” joined the crowd surfing activities at the peril of her own questionable chastity.

Ok, time to address the elephant in the room. The Jobstopper camp have had a bit of a rough trot lately. Leading up to their album launch they suffered personnel problems at a time they frankly could have done without it. Stepping in to fill the the temporary drummer role for this CD launch was Swamp Donkey and Violet Shift sticks man Ollie Van Ballegooyen. Previous drummer Moff, had a looser, punkier feel that many liked, but Ollie brought a tightness and groove to the band that this reviewer had not witnessed the band play with before, great stuff.

The big surprise of the night was Peyote, who played after Jobstopper. The Peyote boys have been on somewhat of a hiatus for what seems to be at least a year, but at the Jobstopper gig they played with a ferocity and precision that took them to another level. I have seen Peyote perform many times, but this was the best performance I have seen them give. Here’s to hoping we don’t have to wait another year or so for their next show! Andy did suffer an amp malfunction, but soldiered on playing through the P.A like the trooper that he is. Still sounded great out front. My uninitiated mates from Gordonvale, who are unashamed metal heads, are definitely new converts to Peyote’s unique brand of NQ sludge Metal.

Despite the amount of crowd surfing, sweatiness, and sheer number of punters crammed into the room, there was not one agro incident or hint of unpleasantness that I was aware of. Jobstopper did experience an amp failure during the set, but was quickly handed another by someone from another band. We have a great music community here, you rock Cairns!

Todd Macalpine

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