Hunters and Collectors [live review]
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Hunters and Collectors [live review]

A Day on the Green, The Hill Winery
January 25, 2014
The first show of a national reunion tour could be a cause for concern – will they still have that spark? Hunters and Collectors are an iconic Aussie band with a rich history, and there is an awful lot for them to live up to – and 1998 seems far away now.
British India opened the show well. I like these guys more every time I see them and I hope they gained new fans. They deserved to.
They were followed by Something for Kate and You Am I. Both gave typical crowd pleasing, high energy sets, though the vocals seemed to be mixed further back than usual. That was until Paul from Something for Kate joined You Am I on stage to do ‘Born to Run’, which was the biggest crowd pleaser of the first section of the day.
Hunters and Collectors opened by taking us back to where it all started with ‘Talking to a Stranger’ – and the crowd went wild, and rightly so. The masters of musical complexity and dynamics are back and still capable and more than willing to rock hard where it’s called for. When you look around and see 8000 people dancing, that’s a sure sign of great rock and roll.
It was a night to remember as they ran through a superb set of hits and less well known album tracks. From the varied ages of those in the audience singing along, it seems last year’s tribute album Crucible has introduced a new generation to a classic band. If we’re all really lucky this reunion will last beyond this tour – and Aussie rock will be much richer.
Words and Photos By Don Kenyon