RIP Died Pretty

None of you will care, but I gotta do this.

Alas, tomorrow night I'll witness the final Brisbane performance of my favourite Australian band - Died Pretty. I've been a fan since their first single, Out of the Unknown back in 1984. Definitely an underground act, they melded influences such as the Velvet Underground, Stooges, Pere Ubu, Modern Lovers and even Neil Young into a heavy instense sound rich with slow-burn passion and urban ennui. Whilst most Australian 'alternative' bands of the time were on a garage thrash - MC5 - Stooges kick, Died Pretty dared to do epic songs of slow burning raw passion that built up into mind-melting psychedelic noisefests, all interspersed with a unique brand of intelligent pop. They were truly sublime. My own circle of friends and fellow band members did them, and in 1990 a bassist friend I'd played with in several Brisbane bands, Robbie Warren, made the move to Sydney joined them. This shot is from one of the first Brisbane gigs they did after Robbie joined and I returned from London. Robbie is at left; the singer is an amazing little feller called Ronnie Peno (Ronald S Peno) who like Iggy Pop, pours a lotta passion into his performances. Unfortunately, at around the same time, Died Pretty signed to Sony - which kinda sapped the edge out of the band - certainly on record if not live. I look forward to seeing them one last time. Some of my live pics of the band will soon appear at [link]

Recommended CDs: Next to Nothing; Free Dirt; Lost; Every Brilliant Eye; Doughboy Hollow.

Likely specs: Ilford XP2 rated at 1600ISO, Ricoh KR5 Super2 SLR; Pentax 50mm lens at 1.8 in available light.

The 'spray' is beer, no doubt spat or sprayed by some neanderthal "yob" in the audience.