I saw Tumbleweed last week. Allow me to bask in the glory of that sentence for just a moment. And now this one: I shall be seeing Tumbleweed this week. Two sentences I never thought I could think, utter, type. And yet, completely true.

Forming in Wollongong in the late-’80s from members of The Proton Energy Pills and The Unheard, the stoner psych rock of Tumbleweed is possibly the biggest success story the city ever had. I know – I grew up there. It was a musical status thing – Sydneysiders and Melbournians could say what they wanted about Wollongong’s music scene, but at the end of the day, we had Tumbleweed, so suck on that. Between 1992 and 2000, they released four albums and countless EPs and singles, the greatest being 1995′s Galactaphonic, and they even played with Nirvana on the band’s first tour of Australia. Tumbleweed were massive.

Like all good things, though, Tumbleweed eventually came to an end and have spent years refusing to pander to the whimsy of fans begging for a reunion. Until now. The original line-up of Tumbleweed (singer Richie Lewis, bassist Jason Curley, guitarists Lenny Curley and Paul Hausmeister and drummer Steve O’Brien) have already performed two shows this year (October 31st, Waves Nightclub, Towradgi; and December 5th, Homebake, Sydney) and have more to come.

And yes, dear reader, I saw Tumbleweed last week. Playing at 4:30pm at Homebake, it was the best set of the day, and completely blasted all expectations away. Surrounded as I was by other Wollongong citizens – past and present – I don’t believe I have never danced that hard, or screamed that loud, or clapped that much. I have also never before joined in a chant of “Wol-lon-gong! Wol-lon-gong!”, and never before have I felt such pride for a group of men I’d never even met. Indeed, never before have I – the one who ran to Sydney as soon as she turned 18 – ever felt any pride at all for the city I grew up in. Except about Tumbleweed, then and now.

I sincerely hope this reunion will last longer than currently advertised. For now, you can see Tumbleweed at:

The HiFi Bar, Melbourne, Vic. – December 10th
Meredith Music Festival, Meredith, Vic. – December 11th (And I will see you there!)
The Espy, St Kilda, Vic – December 31st
Lost Weekend Festival, Qld. – March 7th