With well-known bands such as Garbage and Blur slated to jam in Amsterdam, and the Beasties, Rage Against the Machine, Live, Pearl Jam hitting Chicago, several less-renowned names played the Sydney Showgrounds on Sunday.| The obvious exception, of course, was the legendary Neil Finn.

The alt Oz crowd, dotted with glitter, South Park gear, kilts and surfer brands (Quiksilver, RipCurl), shuffled between Stage A for the headline acts and B, for what seemed reserved for the synthesizer set. The cold, windy weather and an airplane hanger-type venue that lent a tinny-sound to the rock were the only dampers to the day. In fact, for anyone new to Sydney the ten-hour long gig was a great intro to the local scene, with guitar-rich, garage-y performances from You Am I, Jebediah, Not From There, The Living End and Spiderbait. And judging from the fervid moshing, the packed crowd loved it. Sydney is much more tolerant of the mosh pit than most U.S. venues; the bouncers here almost seemed to encourage it as they happily caught the tide of bodies passed to the front. The kids know how to do it right, too: at one point they hoisted a boogie board for actual body surfing.

Finn, Oz's favorite adopted son from New Zealand, poured liquid lyrics into the crowd's ear with songs such as "She Will Have Her Way." He closed his set by reaching back to his Split Enz' past for (ahem) "History Never Repeats." Local fave Regurgitator closed the show, giving its bone-chilled fans a night to remember with over-the-top crowd pleasers including "I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am" and "I Will Lick Your Asshole."

Down under, mind you, they're allowed to say "asshole" on TV.

MARY HUHN(June 18, 1999)