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DEADSET directed by Rob Payne First and foremost; who the hell is Augie March? I've never heard of him/them before this film. You think that Mr Payne would place the Cruel Sea, Snout, The Fauves (who do feature slightly) or some other better known Australian rock band above them. But oh well. I think the viewing quality at Glebe's Valhalla Cinema wasn't that great but they gave me a free signed Custard poster so I'm not complaining. I am complaining though, about the film. My only, yet major, problem with the film is its too focused. It also reads like the who's who of the Triple J hotlist. In fact, there is a section entitled "JJJ". This film exceeded the directors own expectations, but for me did not live up to its hype. Now, I love Australian music. I love most of the bands involved (all bar Grinspoon and Augie) but this film hardly captures the so called "rise and rise of the new Australian music". It was also restricted to experts like Richard Kingsmill, and band members, who can only give a limited, small picture view from the inside. Further, the live scenes are more often than not cut up through commentary, and little insight is given into the Australian scene. Last thing that really bugged me was that Powderfinger's Take Me In film clip was included in full. But hey, don't let me get you down. This is still a good film, or is it a Rockumentary? Some of the lines are unforgettable. Spiderbait's Kram, when commenting on lyrics, jokes of a song that lacked a word to rhyme with Orange. Phil Jameson is a total git. Matt Strong shows the crowd a "G, C, D and maybe an E minor...". Too many from Tim Rogers. And the visuals a great, cutting from scene to scene, and the dark setting for Ammonia, the black and white Spiderbait, Something For Kate on the move all adds to the film's sweet eye candy. The music is great. A rich selection of Australian sounds and clips of many great performances. Not to mention a cameo by the Presidents Of The USA's Chris Ballew playing guitar with Custard's Dave McCormack, and the rocking Adams Ribs by You Am I. Many times I felt like applauding! I recognised last year's Grudgefest and this year's Homebake and Warped as some of the gigs featured. Overall a good film that could've been great. Definitely worth a look if you like the bands involved but don't go in with high hopes. And last but not least, how funny will this film be in 10 years?
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 Custard, who are featured in Deadset Live performances
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