The four musicians haven’t spoken in eight years. Not even when booking these gigs, with Celenza and Parise approached by intermediaries to gauge their interest in this brief reunion.
Speaking separately last week, each member insists the acrimony which ended their reconciliation in 2008 is “water under the bridge” and playing together on stage will be fun.
“It will be quite weird,” drummer Celenza says. “At the end of the day all of that stuff that went down is under the bridge and I don’t give a f--- about it. The original band was a great band and I think that chemistry will still be there when we get together to play.”
So what did go down? The Baby Animals were the Next Big Thing in 1991 as they released their self-titled debut album, propelled by the singles Early Warning and Rush You.
The record was the most successful Australian rock debut until beaten by Jet’s Get Born 12 years later and sold almost one million copies worldwide.
Major rock acts discovered these Australian upstarts and booked them for their international tours, including Bryan Adams and Van Halen, on their mammoth For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour across the US.