Motor Ace 20th Year Anniversary – A Five Star Reunion

It’s 2001, you’re driving home from work, flicking through the radio stations, and Five Star Laundry by Motor Ace is being played on triple j, Triple M and a bunch of other stations in between. Then, as you walk in the door, the television is blaring and it’s Motor Ace again, with their iconic track Death Defy reaching an even wider audience as the theme song for the beloved Australian television series The Secret Life Of Us. And you probably caught them performing at the ARIAS and across all the various shows on tv at that time too, that was what it was like during the peak of Motor Ace—absolute saturation, and even then people couldn’t get enough.

Fast forward almost two decades and Motor Ace’s hoardes of fans no longer have to wait for that highly anticipated reunion, because in March and April of 2019, the band we all love will embark on a national tour to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the band’s inception.

Within the first month of being on sale, Five Star Laundry went gold in Australia—a massive feat when considering what it takes for a record to go gold in 2018, with just 7 Australian albums having been certified gold this year. What followed was an exhaustive touring and promo schedule, which included unbelievable support slots alongside Foo Fighters, Oasis and Blink-182. It was sold out shows every night, and absolute domination on the airwaves; Motor Ace were a staple in consecutive triple j Hottest 100 countdowns, and a mainstay on the ARIA charts.

Their timely sophomore album Shoot This was released in 2002 to abundant critical acclaim. It spawned lead single Carry On that held the coveted #1 most played song on Australian airwaves for 8 weeks in a row, and Shoot This, debuting at #1 on the charts and achieving gold sales on release. It was an electrifying whirlwind, as drummer Damo Costin reflects, “It was pretty amazing at the time, and something that I still feel very proud of…we definitely milked being number one on the charts, and I think I might still be milking it a little to this day!”

The band are thrilled to be back together to play hits and album faves from Five Star Laundry, and later albums Shoot This and Animal, for fans all across the country, as lead singer Pat Robertson says, "It's been 20 years since we were playing our first shows around Melbourne—at the Punters Club, Evelyn and Espy—and 13 years since the last Motor Ace show. It feels pretty bizarre to be honest, but really looking forward to playing shows with the guys and most importantly seeing if we can still party!" Damo adds, "It feels absolutely surreal, the reason being that when I was 22, and young and earnest, I had no idea that 20 years later I was going to play these songs again! I am most excited about enjoying those songs again in a live space, excited to play again with a sense of nostalgia and giving my all with the guys. We really wanna have some fun with it."

Since disbanding all those years ago, the Motor Ace boys have been up to all those regular ‘life’ things—Pat has two kids and works for Aesop, Dave has three kids and one on the way, and is working offshore on an oil rig, Damo has a daughter and is running successful music company 123 Agency, and Matt has two kids and is a communications manager for Yarra Valley Water. But for what’s set to be an amazing few weeks of shows, the band are back together just like the good old days—although, in true Damo form, he jokes that a little stamina training might be in order this time around—"If I get to the end of the show and I am still alive it will be a miracle. I am currently in training—send in all fitness tips!"

Motor Ace is Patrick Robertson (vocals, guitar), Dave Ong (guitar), Damo Costin (drums) and Matt Balfe (bass).