On Thursday night Hindley Street Music Hall hosted the legendary supergroup Infectious Grooves. Featuring Mike Muir and Dean Pleasants of Suicidal Tendencies, Robert Trujillo of Metallica, Dave Kushner of Velvet Revolver and former Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg.
The French farmers known as Inspector Cluzo kicked things off. As soon as they started a toothless gentleman launched a cup of ice at them before being swiftly booted from the venue. Welcome to Adelaide.
This duo is a hidden gem that brought a mix of blues and rock. Fusing an old school flavour with a modern sound akin to The White Stripes or the Arctic Monkeys, only more raw. Which makes sense as one of their songs references their producer Vance Powell who has worked with the like.
The topic matter of their music largely focuses on their experience as farmers in rural France. Which included some interesting rants about how greenwashing is ruining their industry and making the lives of people like them much harder. Their set also included some party songs and a track about Iggy Pop’s penis (apparently based on a personal experience).
The drummer accounted for a lot of the energy. Repeatedly leaving the kit and running around the stage as he hyped up the crowd. The highlight of the performance was when he turned his bass drum on it’s side and stood upright beating it like an oversized floor tom as he gave a thunderous trash can ending. Before chucking his sticks in the air and the two of them taking a choreographed bow.
Not long after they finished a video started playing on the massive projector screen behind the stage. Featuring footage from the early days and original members of Infectious Grooves. As soon as it finished the band ran out with a few hype men in crocodile masks getting loose around them. Between the hype crocs and Mike Muir’s infectious stage presence the atmosphere was electric.
Mike has more energy on stage than most performers in their twenties that we see. Bouncing from side to side with a massive smile on his face while he runs from one end of the stage to the other. It was really funny to watch him joke around while also light heartedly chirping Robert Trujillo throughout most of the set.
Seeing Robert playing like an absolute beast up close and personal was awesome. Typically you would be separated by thousands of people when witnessing him play. In this instance we were only a few people away which allowed us to see some awe inspiring bass skills on display. The same goes for Jay Weinberg, who was also in beast mode. His drumming definitely elevated the energy of the room and it was special to witness in such an intimate environment.
The crowd really opened up during the last few songs of the night when they played three Suicidal Tendencies covers. The first two being ‘Subliminal’ and ‘Send Me Your Money’. Then they ducked off stage and Robert announced they’ll be back shortly for one last song featuring a surprise.
That last song was ‘Pledge Your Allegiance’ and the surprise was Tai Trujillo. Robert’s son, who has made a name for himself touring with the likes of Korn and Suicidal Tendencies. The lad received a big welcome and his performance was the highlight of the night. Bringing that youthful energy to the stage while shredding and trading bass solos with his old man.
To see these bonafide metal legends play extreme funk infused with insanely technical jazz-like pieces is a unique experience which we would recommend to any music lover. It reminds you why they are who they are. They’re some of the best in the world at their craft and seeing them have fun with it is what makes those grooves so infectious.
written by Brad Hapke
