“So… this was no tribute band… no hackneyed cabaret act. This was a band on fire. From the first few bars of opening song, This Perfect Day, through to the last drops of the chaotic frenzy that is Nights In Venice, The Saints pummelled our senses with 20 songs of jaw-dropping intensity”
L-R: Mark Arm, Ed Kuepper, Peter Oxley, Mick Harvey, Ivor Hay.
Photo: Katelyn Slyer
The Saints ’73-’78 celebrate 50 years since their first-ever shows this November with a month-long tour taking in New Zealand, USA, Canada, the UK, Sweden and Germany.
Outside Australia The original Saints only ever played the UK, two shows in The Netherlands and a single French show, while Australia itself was reduced to just Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. Australia has since been humbled by the explosion that is The Saints ’73-’78 while New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Sweden and Berlin bear witness to the joy for the very first time
“So… this was no tribute band… no hackneyed cabaret act. This was a band on fire. From the first few bars of opening song, This Perfect Day, through to the last drops of the chaotic frenzy that is Nights In Venice, The Saints pummelled our senses with 20 songs of jaw-dropping intensity” – Backseat Mafia
Having begun in 1973 as a three piece under the moniker Kid Galahad & The Eternals, it would take until late 1975 and the arrival of bassist Kym Bradshaw before the band would take on their more recognisable name and recognisable line-up: Ed Kuepper guitar, Chris Bailey vocals, Ivor Hay drums and Kym Bradshaw bass a/k/a The Saints. It was this line-up that would record the incendiary (I’m) Stranded 7” and album of the same name just a few months later and depart Australian shores for good in May ’77.
During their 12 month stay in the UK this same line-up of The Saints would produce their only charting single This Perfect Day plus the 1-2-3-4 ep before Bradshaw would leave replaced by teenager Algy Ward, the younger brother of Saints roadie Ian. Two more stunning LP’s Eternally Yours and Prehistoric Sounds would follow before the band would dissolve, breaking into factions and returning home minus the prize.
50 years later though, and with the sound of those three incredible albums continuing to resonate and find new fans, and on the back of the recently released (I’m) Stranded 4LP box set, surviving members Kuepper and Hay decide to reunite, recruiting like-minded musicians in Mick Harvey, Peter Oxley and Mark Arm – collectively of The Birthday Party / Bad Seeds, Sunnyboys and Mudhoney – with a sold out national tour playing the classics from those three albums and drawing in 12,000 people over 12 shows. The biggest shows the band have ever played.
“This wasn’t a tribute to the Saints … it was something else. It was eight guys on stage reaching for magic, devoted to the moment and delivering one of the greatest final furlongs I’ve seen in four decades of watching live music.” – Sean Sennett (Time Off)
“The towering impressions left by the nights proceedings? That Kuepper is a motherfucker of a guitar-player, his sound just as molten and unrelenting as back in the day”. – UNCUT
Rounding out The Saints ’73-’78 on their November tour is a three-piece brass section featuring tenor and baritone sax plus trumpet and includes masters of their craft; Eamon Dilworth and Julien Wilson.
