Spring Loaded

Channelling a line-up with some serious Big Day Out vibes (win), Spring Loaded is pegged to be one of the biggest music events in the Top End – and the country – for 2021. Held on the Royal Darwin Show public holiday (double win!), the incredible line-up includes Grinspoon, Regurgitator, Jebediah, Frenzal Rhomb, Magic Dirt and Screamfeeder, emceed by arguably the world’s nicest bloke, Lindsay “The Doctor” McDougall.

Tierney White caught up with Grinspoon’s lead singer Phil Jamieson for a chat!

A real life music festival. Are you excited about touring the country and coming up to Darwin?
Well, Darwin first, of course. I don’t get to go there often enough, and I think the last time I was there was 2017 with Grinners at the Ski Club on our Guide To Better Living Tour. Which was brilliant and I love it up there, it’s fantastic. I think we played with Tired Lion, The Superjesus – it was fantastic and unreal.

In relation to touring the country, I’ve been trying to spin the wheels for a while – Grinspoon don’t tour very often anymore, so this is really exciting – and also with all of these great bands that I kind of either grew up on or were my peers and contemporaries. It’s just such a great honour to be sharing the stage with these turn of the century bands that were so important to my life.

A lot of [the bands] have been around for a while – to think you’re still touring and still have such a loyal following must feel pretty great, right?
It does! It’s quite flattering, really. I think we just ended up doing what we do, and in 2012 or 2013 we took some time off – we’d been touring for so long we were maybe a little burned out… We didn’t tour again until 2017, which doesn’t feel like the longest period of time, four years or so, but it really enabled us to reset what we did, and maybe helped us appreciate it a bit more.

Maybe the crowds have missed us? The crowds were really great in 2017, and maybe we needed that to elongate our life a little bit as well. We toured so heavily up until that point.

We did a Spring Loaded in Sydney in May, and maybe people’s appearances have changed a bit over the years, but the songs are still what really draws me personally to those acts. Whether it be Regurgitator with their subversive punk rock…and then Jebediah with their really hooky indie/pop, it’s the songs that get me. Whether someone has grey hair or no hair, or has an extra 10 kilos around their belly is irrelevant, it’s more about how good the songs sound.

Jebediah and Grinspoon came up at around the same time, I think we both released our debut record within weeks of one another in 1997, so those guys have been with us on this path for so many years – in a different way – but in the same way… it’s really lovely to be on the road with those guys, and being backstage with them, because we’ve known each other for so long.

So, as an audience, we’re all having a nostalgic throwback of seeing some of our favourite bands in the same line-up, but you’re kind of experiencing the same thing backstage?
Yeah. A lot of us live in different cities – I haven’t seen those guys in a long time – and obviously due to COVID happening there was no opportunity to do it, so yeah, backstage in Sydney was really fun. It was great to see everyone. It was awesome.

I remember seeing Grinspoon play at Big Day Out. That’s a music festival that’s been thrown around a bit when Spring Loaded is brought up – a lot of people are very excited got see these bands together again.
Likewise! The Big Day Out had this element to it, but in my opinion, the Big Day Out was a lot broader, I think Homebake is a bit more the vibe… because it had all Australian bands.

We didn’t know it was gonna happen either and were like, “is this gonna be any good?” Then I was at the Sydney show and was like, “this is f—king fantastic!”

From my end it’s about the strength of the songs… the collection of songs this touring line-up has is testament to why the bands can still tour, but also why people want to hear it. There’s a lot to love about this gig!

Given the cards dealt in 2020, people just have a real thirst for live music. There’s one thing listening to it streamed, but it’s just not the same as seeing a band do their thing on stage.
Yeah, you can’t get the mistakes and the visceral energy. Like if someone’s fallen over or they’ve broken a string or the sound goes out, there’s all that stuff that actually makes a gig that is unquantifiable.

I know you guys just had BASSINTHEGRASS with some great acts as well, so we can’t wait to get up and play. Having the opportunity to visit the Northern Territory for this is a real bonus!

Spring Loaded //POSTPONED //
WHEN FRI 23 JUL | 4PM
AT DARWIN AMPHITHEATRE
COST $112
INFO ticketek.com.au

Update on postponement