VIOLENT SOHO // Live with The Bronx, Luca Brasi & Tired Lion in Brisbane

The Riverstage, Brisbane October 28, 2016

As the sun starts to set over Brisbane, hordes of loose heshdogs are trampling through QUT’s Gardens Point campus to get to the Riverstage to watch the biggest (perhaps only) thing to come out of Mansfield, Violent Soho, kick off their biggest headlining tour to date.

Perth Unearthed winners Tired Lion have a run at warming the crowd up. As the crowd is still filing through the gates, they’re greeted with scuzzy guitar pop that Australian bands did better than anyone else in the late 90s. It’s good to see its making a return.

Much like tonight’s headliners, Luca Brasi have seen their profile explode over the last couple of years. And when they play tracks off If This is All We’re Going to Be the crowd can understand why they’ve grown as big as they have. The heartfelt punk rock connects with a large portion of the pit, who are singing the words back to the dudes.

LA punk rock outfit The Bronx come out looking to get people worked up. Frontman Matt Caughthran keeps telling the crowd to ‘fuck shit up’. Ahh dude, we’re standing in a natural amphitheatre and you can’t really fuck up a lovely view of the river or a wonderful balmy night. Nevertheless, the Bronx aren’t letting go of their usual antics that tear clubs apart just because they’re on a bigger stage. Caughthran takes it upon himself to bring the club vibes to the crowd, with his huge stage dives and inability to remain still when guitarists Joby Ford and Ken Horne touch their strings it’s not long before the ring leader has the mosh pit heaving.

It’s a performance that cements Violent Soho’s reputation as home town heroes, the likes of which Brisbane probably hasn’t seen since Powderfinger.

One time in an interview, Violent Soho guitarist James Tidswell told me about the band’s ill-fated foray into the North American market, they had a big time label telling them how to become the biggest band in the world, and that was to support 30 Seconds to Mars on a stadium run. But they turned it down to open up for the Bronx. Though they were sometimes playing to crowds of 30 people, he said the band was all still stoked on that decision. So you could only imagine how the dudes are feeling tonight, reunited with their brothers in arms, in their home town, kicking off their biggest tour ever. Even though the Riverstage is a huge venue, fans at the very back can spot the shit-eating grins Tidswell, bassist Luke Henery, drummer Michael Richards and frontman Luke Boerdam are wearing from the moment they walk out on stage.

While this tour is kinda of like a victory lap for the dudes, it also represents something of a tipping point. This is the point in a band’s career where fans who have been around since the beginning—in Soho’s case when they were generating hype playing support slots over at The Step Inn—are most liable to drop off, but even the most cynical Violent Soho fan can’t fault the quartet’s performance. Save for a couple of blasts of confetti and an expensive lighting rig, nothing has changed in Violent Soho’s live show. The focus has never shifted off the songs. Even the saltiest bro is given no reason to cut them down, no matter the tall poppies they have grown into. Every new song Violent Soho announce draws huge cheers and the crowd sounds like they’re following along with lyric sheets in hand. They’re stoked to drown out Boerdam’s voice during the opening lines of Viceroy and they’re just as game to shout along when the band plays old cuts like Love is a Heavy Word. It’s a performance that cements Violent Soho’s reputation as home town heroes, the likes of which Brisbane probably hasn’t seen since Powderfinger.

Catch Violent Soho with special guests The Bronx, Luca Brasi & Tired Lion on the following dates.

Saturday October 29, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, NSW
Monday October 31, Festival Hall, Melbourne, VIC (Cup Eve)
Friday November 4, Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, SA
Saturday November 5, Red Hill Auditorium, Perth, WA