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FRENZAL RHOMB with Private Function & Soakie
Bendigo Hotel // Melbourne
Saturday 21st April, 2018
Saturday April 21st saw the Melbourne leg Australian punk scions Frenzal Rhomb’s Hi-Vis High Tea tour roll into the Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood.
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Kiwi/American via way of Melbourne band Soakie kicked off the evening’s festivities, hitting the stage with a vengeance, with bass player Nellie’s gritty, biting tone combined with frontwoman Summer’s piercing vocal shrieks commanding attention of the punters who’d already filed into the band room. “We’re glad the Bendigo has given a platform to bands with women, and hopefully we see more bands with women and people of colour playing shows” said vocalist Summer prior to the band departing the stage.
Soakie // By Aiden Bedford
Melbourne up-and-comers Private Function were on next, with their chaotic stage presence encapsulating the crowd from the get-go, whilst the ridiculous lyrical content of Shut Up And Give The Man Your Bank Details sent the punters into rapturous applause. After being briefly distracted by a balding-from-the-front-and-back-simultaneously-but-somehow-maintaining-his-80s-mullet dude wearing a Dragonforce tee attempting to make love to large industrial fan, the crowd’s attention returned to the stage, where Private Function smashed a pumpkin in the pit right before covering Smashing Pumpkins’ Bullet with Butterfly Wings and then moving into a cover of Midnight Oil’s King of the Mountain.
Not content with the level of party happening, the band then blasted out their anthem I Wish Australia Had Its Guns Again before vacating the stage.
Private Function // By Aiden Bedford
Private Function // By Aiden Bedford
Finally, just before 11pm, Frenzal Rhomb took the stage, playing along to the dulcet tones of John Farnham’s 1986 banger Pressure Down to ensure the crowd were sufficiently engaged.
Beginning the set with back-catalogue classics We’re Going Out Tonight and Russell Crowe’s Band, Frenzal Rhomb charge headfirst into Cunt Act from their new album Hi-Vis High Tea, reminding all in attendance they can still pump out fantastic songs after 25 years.
Frenzal Rhomb // By Aiden Bedford
I’m Shelving Stacks (As I’m Stacking Shelves) and Bucket Bong leave many in the crowd to lament their misspent youth, whilst vocalist Jay Whalley is forced to verbally interject in a punch-on between two punters, telling them not to be “macho fuckwits, as fun as it can be.”
Frenzal Rhomb // By Aiden Bedford
Verbal castrations completed, the band tear into the ever-popular Mr. Charisma and Genius, new tracks School Reunion and Storage Unit Pill Press, before moving into controversial 2003 single Ballchef for what guitarist Lindsay McDougall describes as the “first time the band have played the song in full in years.”
Frenzal Rhomb // By Aiden Bedford
Deciding to pour more gasoline on the fire, the band launch into Bird Attack, with the pit turning into a Darwinist’s paradise, with a few over-enthusiastic challengers for the title of Supreme Hard Cunt seen slinking to the back of the room with shattered dreams and noses alike. Whilst extremely entertaining, Frenzal’s set was beset with lighting issues, with venue staff working frantically to rectify issues as they arose.
All in all, the evening was well put together and thoroughly enjoyable, with the choice of supports complimenting the headline act well.
Catch Frenzal Rhomb at this years Dead Of Winter Festival, tickets available here.
