After 25 Years, Mental As Anything Founders Peter O’Doherty And Reg Mombassa Reintroduce The Band To Melbourne As Mental As Anything Celebrates 50 Years
by Paul Cashmere
In the early days of Mental As Anything, Peter O’Doherty and Reg Mombassa were the expresso bongo of the band, a compact and richly layered rhythm section that underpinned the group’s sound. Over the top, Greedy Smith and Martin Plaza added the melodic pop sheen. That blend of two rock musicians and two pop stylists created a musical diversity that set Mental As Anything apart from their Sydney contemporaries when they emerged in 1976.
The formula worked. Between 1979 and 1995, Mental As Anything scored 19 Top 40 hits in Australia, a remarkable run that included The Nips Are Getting Bigger, If You Leave Me Can I Come Too and Live It Up. The pop hooks made the singles radio staples, but it was the rhythmic and harmonic foundation laid by O’Doherty and Mombassa that gave the albums their depth.
O’Doherty and Mombassa officially departed the band in 2000. Greedy Smith, Martin Plaza and co-founder and drummer David Twohill, also known as Wayne de Lisle, continued the legacy. Twohill exited in 2004. Plaza stepped down around 2015 due to health issues. Smith carried on under the Mental As Anything banner until his sudden passing in 2019, at which point the band closed the book on a 44 year run that had become part of Australian music folklore.
Few expected another chapter. Yet in 2025, 25 years after their departure, O’Doherty and Mombassa reunited to perform again as Mental As Anything. In 2026, as the band marks 50 years since forming in Sydney’s art school scene, the founders brought their new line-up to Melbourne for the first time in a quarter of a century, playing to thousands at the annual St Kilda Festival.
The new configuration features Simon Rudston-Smith on vocals and guitar, Shannon Stitt on keyboards and Declan O’Doherty on drums. Declan, Peter’s son, has been a member of Dog Trumpet since 2023. Rudston-Smith brings a strong pop sensibility to the front line, while Stitt, whose background includes funk and jazz outfit Uncle Jed, expands the musical palette that has always been central to the Mental As Anything identity.
St Kilda Festival is a free, open event. The crowd gathers for the atmosphere as much as the artists, and on a perfect Sunday afternoon the new-look Mental As Anything faced a broad audience, including many younger fans unfamiliar with the band’s history. It was a trial by fire. O’Doherty and Mombassa handled it with confidence and ease.
Their 45 minute set functioned as a sampler of five decades. With time tight, the 11 song performance leaned heavily on the catalogue that built the band’s reputation. The show opened with Come Around from Expresso Bongo and moved swiftly through Two Many Times, Egypt and If You Leave Me Can I Come Too. He’s Just No Good For You and Berserk Warriors reaffirmed the strength of the early 80s material, while Apocalypso, officially titled Apocalypso Wiping The Smile Off Santa’s Face, injected a dose of the band’s irreverent humour.
Throughout the set the band visited their Top 40 bookends, the first hit, The Nips Are Getting Bigger from 1979’s Get Wet, and 1995’s Mr Natural. (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet and Live It Up ensured the closing stretch belonged to the audience, who sang along as if no time had passed.
Ten of the 11 songs were Top 40 hits. The exception, Egypt, was a popular album track from Get Wet that enjoyed strong radio support in an era when programmers often dug deeper into records. It was a reminder that Mental As Anything were never simply a singles act.
This line-up presents a different flavour of the band. Under Smith’s stewardship in later years, the emphasis remained on the pop legacy. With O’Doherty and Mombassa back at the helm, there is a renewed focus on the band’s rhythmic and musical foundations. The fundamentals are intact, but there is space for more nuance.
At a one-off Sydney performance late last year, with a longer set time, the expanded approach was evident in deeper cuts such as Business And Pleasure and Got Hit. Those songs hint at what a full-length headline show from this configuration could deliver.
For now, the St Kilda Festival appearance served as both celebration and statement. Fifty years after forming in Sydney, Mental As Anything remain a living, evolving entity, anchored by two of the musicians who shaped its original DNA.
Visit the Noise11 Facebook page for video of Mental As Anything from the St Kilda Festival.
Mental As Anything Setlist, 15 February 2026, St Kilda Festival, Melbourne
Come Around, from Expresso Bongo, 1980
Two Many Times, from Cats And Dogs, 1981
Egypt, from Get Wet, 1979
If You Leave Me Can I Come Too, from Cats And Dogs, 1981
He’s Just No Good For You, from Mouth To Mouth, 1987
Berserk Warriors, from Cats And Dogs, 1981
Apocalypso Wiping The Smile Off Santa’s Face, single, 1984
The Nips Are Getting Bigger, from Get Wet, 1979
Mr Natural, from Liar Liar Pants On Fire, 1995
(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet, single, 1980
Live It Up, from Fundamental, 1985
Mental As Anything will perform at:
9 March, A Taste of Huon, Ranelagh, Tasmania
Over Easter, Bluesfest
23 May, Lighthouse Rock, Burnett Heads, Queensland
Mental As Anything’s Live It Up The Mental As Anything Story will also screen with Q and A at:
24 February, Hayden Orpheum, Sydney
3 March, Cinema Nova, Melbourne
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