With an emphasis on profit and greed in this day and age, music events are becoming somewhat rare. This is especially the case with events that have a sense of attitude and philosophy behind them. The Cup My Balls Too event held at The Tote is one of the last bastions of rock left standing in this fair city.
Held on Melbourne Cup Day, Cup My Balls Too was the antithesis of what that race stands for. The race comprises of toxic by-products of drunken violence, cruelty to animals and, perhaps most acidic, the role of the gambling tout who is treated like the new god of our time. The Tote, despite its name being slang for gambling, became something of a refuge against this and attracted a strong crowd that, in their philosophies towards life, stand against this Cup Day mentality.
Kicking off nicely with Them Nights, the day featured nearly a dozen bands and a rather tasty BBQ lunch in the beer garden. The common theme among the bands was their love of rock music in all its forms and mutations. There was a strong line-up and a great cross-section of bands on the local front, underlining the fact that this city has one of the most vibrant and impressive live music scenes in the world.
Two-piece outfit Dead, consisting of drums and bass, created an unholy racket, and one that was totally appreciated by those who had arrived early for the all-day event. You could feel their stylings and their take on music go right through your bones. The duo proved to be something of a warm up to what was to follow.
The exception to the rule of bands being local was Japanese five-piece Cyberne. It’s always an intriguing prospect to see a non-Western nation take on music you know and love. Usually, that different cultural perspective really brings something unique and different to the equation. Cyberne, with two drummers that really gave their sound an incredible sense of bottom end and ballast, stunned and amazed the crowd standing before them. It’s heartening to see one discover music for the first time without prejudice and any prior knowledge. The band was a strong point of a very solid day.
Unfortunately, not all bands can be of the same standard on a multi act line-up. Five-piece Mangel Wurzel, while showing promise and potential with their take on psychedelic rock, left a great deal to be desired. Affected, forced, and very green, they became very irritating very fast. File under ‘needs work’.
Wearing their sunglasses at night, local stalwarts Legends Of Motorsport, who feel like they’ve been around forever, put on a blistering set. Recalling the dirty, filthy, sleazy, keyboard-drenched sounds of legendary Australian band Rocket Science, they really rocked the house and got that sunken area in front of the stage in the main band room jumping.
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Brilliantly closing the day with attitude and style was local yahoos Batpiss. Dripping with the energy and aggression of both Motörhead and The Ramones, they also brought to mind one of the pillars of what makes The Tote unique, the legendary local band of days past, the mighty Powder Monkeys. A band that truly came alive on stage as opposed to their recorded counterpart, Batpiss were an inspired and electric way to close out what proved to be a wonderful day. It was, in essence, an inspired bit of counter programming to the so-called ‘race that stops a nation’. More power to those that refuse to be conformist sheep.
