The Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian band that has been cranking out great records for almost forty years. They played at The Hamilton in Washington, D.C. on Monday, May 8, 2023. It was a long time coming…
In early 2020, my wife and I - and two of our best friends - saw that The Hoodoo Gurus were coming to Washington, D.C. at a great venue called The Hamilton. I had seen the band once, over thirty years ago, but it seemed to me that at least for the last decade, they weren’t making it to the U.S. very often. We are fans, so we made plans and bought tickets. Covid-19 resulted in a postponement of the show. Strike one. It was rescheduled, but that date was also postponed. Strike two. As we drew closer, it seemed like the show could happen, but who knows what the Covid rules were in Australia. That time the show was cancelled and refunds were issued. Strike three. But then, in late 2022, it was again scheduled, so we all bought tickets…again. And on May 8th, we got to see the band.
There was no opening act, so we figured the set should be pretty long. After all, the band has a huge catalog (10 studio albums) and we had waited patiently for this show, to say the least. It turned out to be reasonably long, but maybe not quite as long as I would have liked. They played 23 songs (setlist to follow). The crowd was really good, with the club being full and lots of people standing right at the front. The Hamilton sometimes keeps the area directly in front of the stage cleared, but for a rocking show like the Hoodoo Gurus, I’m glad to see the dancing and enthusiasm that comes with crowding the stage right up front. We stood back maybe 40 feet on a raised platform for a better view, and even had a table to sit at, although I stood most of the time.
The band kicked off with a few harder rocking songs (my friend commented that they were playing like they had something to prove). Unfortunately, those first few songs were a little muddled as far as the sound, which surprised me, because that club has killer lighting and sound. But as the set got going, things improved significantly. I thought the setlist was great, lots of hits with deeper cuts sprinkled in. While I had at least five songs that I thought I had to hear, there are so many to choose from, that I would have been happy with four of them. I got all five and several more that would have been on my top ten request list.
Front man Dave Faulkner still sounds great after over forty years of doing this and he plays a solid rhythm guitar, but I was blown away by how much I enjoyed lead guitarist Brad Shepherd. His solos were absolutely blistering, and he rocked hard all evening. It never ceases to amaze me how much more rocking it often seems to see a band live as compared to their records. Bottom line, an excellent show by a band that has truly stood the test of time.
SETLIST w/ some JCE comments:
1. (Let’s All) Turn On
2. Answered Prayers
3. Another World The first three songs were extra loud, but not extra good.
4. Axegrinder Someone requested this and it rocked hard – this got things going.
5. Out That Door A long-time favorite.
6. My Girl Nice song from their 1984 debut record.
7. Hung Out to Dry A newer song, a great anti-Trump rant, one of my top five wish list.
8. In the Middle of the Land A well-known favorite.
9. Good Times My wife was hoping for this one. Me too.
10. The Right Time
11. Chariot of the Gods
12. I Want You Back One of the aforementioned five songs that I wanted to hear.
13. Miss Freelove ‘69
14. Equinox
15. 1000 Miles Away Probably the number one song that I wanted to hear.
16. Come Anytime
17. Tojo Another fave from the debut record.
18. Poison Pen
19. Bittersweet The fourth song from my top five list.
20. I Was a Kamikaze Pilot
Encore:
21. Leilani The crowd loved this one…their first single ever, but not one of my favorites.
22. What’s My Scene Another one of the five on my list… they got all five!
23. Like Wow – Wipeout
Bonus Video from current tour:
JCE, or John to his friends, was born in the Nation’s Capital and grew up in the VA suburbs of D.C. He just turned 60 years old, he has a wife of 32 years, and a grown daughter. He leads a bit of a double life, working by day as the chief administrative officer of a VA county, and spending as many nights as possible listening to live rock n roll with his wife at any club that has a decent band within 100 miles or so of their house (and sometimes further).