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Spring Music Guide 2003 The Vines Support: The Music, Youth Group Date: March 22. 9pm. $20. The Fillmore, 1805 Geary, San Francisco. 415.346.6000 Current Album: Highly Evolved (Capitol, 2002) Vitals: Aussie heirs to the rock & roll throne Breakthrough: "Get Free" (2002) Current Single: "Get Free" (2002) Scouting Report: The Vines seem to make more noise with their self-destructive shenanigans on late-night TV than with their skronky music, which borrows heavily from Nirvana and Silverchair. In December 2002, the boys from down under trashed a Plexiglass divider while drunkenly sound checking on The Tonight Show and were promptly booted off the premises by Herr Chin. Then, when a Late Show appearance culminated with guitarist/vocalist Craig Nicholls hurtling himself into Hamish Rosser's drum kit, Letterman expressed genuine concern. The Vines regularly abandon themselves live, breaking equipment, losing teeth and prompting Rolling Stone to reward the band with a September cover story and the headline "Rock Is Back." The Vines' painfully hipster following may be thinning as Highly Evolved rounds gold-record status and heads for platinum. But as "Get Free" becomes the anthem of every high school kid sick of living under his parents' roof, the door to mainstream appeal is about to be violently kicked down. It will be interesting to see if the Vines keeps on their destructive path as their public image escalates. This show, their first Bay Area appearance since a sold-out gig at Slim's, will be a good indicator. (TI) Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]