Local Shows

Two great (albeit heavier) local shows coming up this month!

Milestones/Little Shadow at Fat Louies, May 12. (free!)
The Mercy Beat/The Quickening at Basement 243, April 28. ($10)

Both some of my favourite places in Brisbane and both full of great local music. Follow the links for the Facebook event details, as well as listening to the bands!

Fat Louies: a tribute

For years, every Monday night, you'd find me and my mates at Fat Louies, throwing down half price drinks during happy hour, playing our own version of pool and getting so pissed off at the jukebox playing bad Asian rap that would waste our money playing the only good songs on there, which happened to all be 80s ballads.

Ah yes. It's my kind of bar. Dingy, pool tables, cheap drinks and not many people around to bother you. Heaven.

Then I found out they did shows. The first one I went along to was In Trenches and Anchors. A great hardcore and punk night. And I got some great pictures.

I didn't realize it was a common thing. But then one night, I got dragged there for some karaoke with the girl's friends. On the way into the booth I noticed a grindcore band playing. Which to me is about 100 million times better than karaoke. So I just sipped my beer and watched the bands instead. A great night was had.

See Fat Louies on weekends transforms into something else. It becomes a venue for great Australian music. Screw the crappy DAL clubs that are full of scene kids that don't give a rats ass about the music (even though the clubs get better international bands) you'll find the real punks, the real hardcore guys, the real music fans of those scenes in Fat Louies most weekends. It's all free and if you don't like the music you can just go around the corner and play some pool. Or around the other corner and make your own music in the karaoke booths.

The best part of these Fat Louies shows is that they feature the best of Australian bands, especially Brisbane bands. If it's an Australian band I've raved about, chances are I've seen them in Fat Louies. It's a great place to find new music, because you don't have to pay anything beyond the drinks you purchase. And they are reasonably priced.

I wish I was getting paid for this, but I'm not. I was just there on Saturday night, after watching my West Coast Eagles win their AFL game, sipping a whiskey and watching Headaches when it dawned on me how awesome Fat Louies is, and how encouraging they are of the music I like.

Check out their facebook for upcoming gigs, or just show up on a Friday or Saturday night. Not too early on the Friday though, their happy hour is becoming quite popular and packed.

Thursday night you can see Waiting Room and Nuclear Summer
Next Thursday you can see Stolen Youth
October 15th the Mercy Beat are playing there

Already, that short list has some of my favourite local bands. Fat Louies, how I love you.

Mercy Beat

Brisbane is home of some of the best music in Australia right now, especially if you like your music heavy. And one of my favourite local bands is the Mercy Beat. Imagine if Queens of the Stone Age still had Nick Oliveri singing all the songs and played even more hardcore style.

That's these guys. And they fucking rock.


Last year they put out a tops CD called How To Shampoo a Yak. And although they plugged it a lot then, they've decided to do the whole East Coast run to play it to the whole goddamn country.
We get 3 shows out of it.
July 15 at Kings Beach Tavern in Caloundra
July 16 at Runaway Bay Tavern on the Gold Coast
July 29 at the Beetle Bar

I've blogged about these guys plenty of times before, and there's a reason for it. They're awesome

Review: Star Fucking Hipsters/AC4/The Quickening/The Mercy Beat, the Zoo, April 7 2011

With the punk royalty (and washed-up sell-outs, as Dennis called them) the Dead Kennedys playing a few suburbs away, it was a smallish crowd that trickled into the Zoo for a Thursday night punk show. A show that had an eerie vibe that made me think of many a 4ZZZ Punkfest show.

First up, playing to no more than a handful of punters standing way back in the shadows, were one of my favourite local bands, the Mercy Beat. They started playing only a few minutes after doors opened, which is a rarity at the Zoo. By their own accounts, they started poorly, but it was loud and hard enough that I didn’t really notice. After profusely apologising to the few in attendance, they ripped through a tight set off of their album How to Shampoo a Yak. At this point a few people came out to dance around and heckle the band, I’m guessing they were mates.

Following the hard rock/punk stylings of the Mercy Beat, things took a rather dramatic turn into metal, with local boys the Quickening taking to the stage. The band seemed pieced together with characitures: a Garth from Wayne’s World on guitar, Willie Nelson on guitar/vocals and the bass player seemed a bit like Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother. Despite their 80’s all-stars look, they were very tight, even if they were the self-proclaimed “token-metal band of the evening.”

Metal Willie Nelson.

Metal Garth.



The crowd was building at this point, and during their last song they got a little circle pit happening. But I was starting to fan-girl, as I saw Dennis Lyxzen in the background getting ready for his band, AC4, who were coming up next.



When theses Swedes, comprised of three-quarters of the legendary hardcore band Refused did take the stage, I was just blown away. Despite having flown the 35+ hours from Sweden and only landing that morning, they did not relent. Dennis showed why he’s one of the best performers in music, spending the better part of 40 minutes not stopping: dancing, doing the worm, running, jumping, screaming, swinging off the roof, skanking, all while singing their short and fast hardcore punk songs. The band were also quite talkative. They gave us how they write their new songs “we start slow, then we follow it with fast, then faster, then much faster” and how everything is downhill from 28, mocking a girl next to me who was about to turn 28.





AC4 played a great selection of songs from their short history together, and I found myself putting down the camera and singing along with fist pumps most of the time. That’s exactly what their music is about. At the end of the set they trooped off stage for all of 3 seconds before coming and doing an encore for us, which was the Motorhead cover that I posted a few days earlier. For a band that started playing together in Umea 20+ years ago, who formed one of the most influential hardcore bands before breaking up under very inauspicious circumstances, to put aside their differences and come together to make great hardcore music again and still put on a great kickass show while forgetting the past... I forgot where I’m going with this spiel. It was just bloody good.




The crowd dwindled slightly after AC4, but all of the Mohawk and denim-jacket clad punks moved up to the front for Star Fucking Hipsters. And when they started, the whole floor just became a sea of skanking and moshing. On stage, the female lead singer seemed to be struggling, and even had a sheet of lyrics in hand. But after a few songs, we found out why. She had been bought into the band less than a week before with the departure of the previous female singer. She struggled through some songs, singing off queue, but getting friendly reminders from the male lead. In her hands she had a handy cheat sheet of lyrics. But apart from a few slip ups with timing and forgotten words, she did okay. The Hipsters played a variety of music, at times sounding like ska, sometimes grindcore, sometimes punk, a dash of metal and then just some random hardcore. The punks in the audience loved it, and despite not knowing much myself, I enjoyed the old-school-punk vibe and music they gave off.






The last song was when everything finally seemed to click though. The lyrics sheet was gone, the music was all in time and the band really came together for a solid song. Earlier in the night, Phil and I had been talking about which end of a tour is better to be on, and we both agreed that you the last show on the tour is the best. This show however was the very first of the tour, with bands jet lagged and still learning to play with new members. If the Star Fucking Hipsters can click like in their last song of the set though, I’ll be jealous of the punters who get to see the last few shows of the tour.

Slow news month

The blog, she's been a bit quiet of late. After the glut of concert announcements of February (and the glut of concerts) things have slowed down as we await the April/May insanity of touring. This weekend alone I've got at least 3 gigs to attend, and more that I just can't. To say I'm a little excited is on understatement.

So in my normal fashion, here's a listing of news and things I should've blogged about but just never got around to doing.

AC4/Star Fucking Hipsters
I've been ranting about this for a while, but on Thursday I finally get to see Dennis Lyxzen perform (in non-techno format). He's back in hardcore mode with AC4 and he's pretty much invented most dance moves singers perform these days.

The local bands for this gig at the Zoo are the Mercy Beat and the Quickening, two of the better heavy bands around. I'm especially in love with the Mercy Beat since seeing them at the Bronx and getting my hands on their album. Get there early for a great night of punk. An amazing night of punk.

Phantoms/Friends With the Enemy
More Australian bands that I love. Phantoms are awesome hardcore punk from Sydney that I've been following since a small basement show last year and Friends with Enemy are like A Wilhelm Scream with a female singer.

They're coming together for an awesome punk night at Girls and Boys (X & Y). April 14th, with special 2 for 1 entry if you're a student. And of course cheaper if you know the password.

The Beards
They are a band that sing songs about beards. While having massive beards. With a folk/humour angle. Basically, they're awesome. And the Beards are playing Rics on April 10th.

You can get some of their stuff from Triple J Unearthed. And after listening, you know you want to see this with a few beers. And beards.

Segression
When I was younger, and just moved to the USA, I got all nostalgic for Australian music. And at the same time I was obsessed with metal. All that together lead to me being obsessed with Segression. 15 years on and I had forgotten about them. They still sit their on my CD case though and once a year I pop it back in.

Turns out they are still going strong, and are about to hit the road again. Playing Rosies on May 20th.

MySpace

All these gigs mentioned are 18+.

The Mercy Beat

A few weeks ago I went to an excellent flood fundraiser gig, featuring an excellent selection of overseas bands. Originally Terror was supposed to play, but they had issues with flights and schedules, so the last minute replacement band was a local: The Mercy Beat.

I was impressed with them, so I checked them out afterwards. Last year they put out an album, How to Shampoo a Yak, apparently launching it to an almost packed Zoo crowd. I wish I was there, because they are balls to the wall, slap in the face, chugg a jug of beer rock.

The Mercy Beat seem to come from a school of hard rock. Their album starts with a a 1 minute track called Eagle Throws Goat Off Cliff. It starts with a build up like a rock album, but then the vocals kick in with a hardcore-punk edge. Towards the end there's even a punk hand clap thrown in for good measure.

From that point the album seemlessly merges old-school hard rock, punk, hardcore. There's even a bluesy little number (the Mercy Blues) and a two minute metal instrumental song, with the same name as the album, that shows they grew up playing Metallica riffs.

I always gush over the Brisbane music scene, and the Mercy Beat are another fine example. I just wish I hadn't been so late on the bandwagon. You can get some of their songs for free off of their Triple J Unearthed page, including the awesome opening track Eagle Throws Goat Off Cliff.

Review: The Bronx/H2O/Trash Talk/The Mercy Beat, Step Inn, 25th February 2011

This gig was special for me on so many different levels. To start with, it was a fundraiser for flood relief (the flood which, of course, I was affected by). It was featuring a bunch of huge international punk and hardcore bands, playing a rare enough sideshow to the Soundwave festival the next day. It featured one of of my all time favourite live bands, the Bronx, having them play in a venue three or four times smaller than the last one they played in Brisbane. And because of that, it also let me, as an amateur/crappy photographer, get closer to these bands than I normally would ever be able to.

And I had a bloody kick-ass night.

I was also really pumped for it, as I had stumbled into the Bronx soundchecking earlier in the day. And the sound for such a small PA was amazing.

Terror were originally supposed to play, but their flights made it impossible to get to the venue on time. So they were replaced with local band The Mercy Beat.


I did not know of this band before coming in, but I was mightily impressed. Although they hit the stage early to a still filling band room at the Step Inn, they put on a great set. Full of high energy and plenty of loud guitars, they sounded as if a Nick Oliveri era Queens of the Stone Age wanted to play punk.

Of course, they were no replacement for Terror, but their 30 minute set made a fan out of me and a few of my friends.

But if I thought they were high energy, I have no idea how to explain the next band: thrashers Trash Talk.


The face of the guy on the side of the stage says it all. This band is one of the most high-energy crazy-stage-antics bands I've ever seen, almost on par with Dillinger Escape Plan.

Their short thrash songs were perfect for screaming...

...jumping in the air


and just all sorts of crazy. The lead singer was stage diving into the crowd most of the time, climbing the walls and just having a great time. And surprisingly, the music still sounded damn good, even with all of the insanity.

I wish I knew more of their songs coming into the gig, but regardless, they've got a new fan in me. Even just for their live show. Taking pictures was horrible, with the poor light and the speed these guys moved, but I tried anyway.




Not to mention, it was bloody hot.

I will definitely see these guys again.

H2O were next, with a bit of a change of pace. They play NY style old school straight-edge hardcore punk, and it was their first time playing Australian in over 9 years. In fact, they said it would be their last time playing Australia. So I am glad I got along to this show.

Their set was fringed by punk royalty (at least in regards to the Soundwave tour). Crammed on the stage behind them were Polar Bear Club, Sum 41, New Found Glory and members of pretty much every other punk band on the Soundwave bill. We were even lucky enough to get Chad from NFG come out and play a song on guitar/vocals.

These guys might be old, but they still show the passion for the music they had when they started. They even gave the crowd a serving for being lame and not stage diving or moshing.


But all the way through it, they showed why they are one of the best hardcore bands, putting on a set with almost as much energy as Trash Talk.

There was plenty of crowd sing alongs


And the bass player just loved his punk jumps in front of me.


At some point during the show, Terror's plane must've landed. The singer made it out, in a wind jacket for some strange reason, and sang Guilt By Association for us.


One of the best old-school hardcore bands out there, it'll be sad to never see them come to Australia again.

But the disappointment of H2O finishing was quickly outweighed by the stage going dark, the strobe light going overtime and the sounds of Knifeman coming through the air. Yes, the Bronx were here.


It's no secret that they love Brisbane and they put on a gig that made us love them even more. Despite the technical issues of a guitar amp being replaced over and over again.


They played a stunning set, covering all of their releases. I couldn't think of any song I still wanted to hear when they finished. Here's the set list:


And there's really nothing to say about this gig that I haven't said about the Bronx millions of times before. They were passionate about what they were doing and as such put on a great show. And so humble too, thanking Brisbane over and over again. I really get the feeling that they like it here.

The lead singer, as always, went a bit mental. He spent quite a lot of time riding the crowd while singing, or dancing around in the middle of the mosh. Or just grabbing on to fans.

When the set wrapped up over an hour later, almost at 1 am, everything was a mess. The stage was trashed, the audience was drenched in sweat, there were bodies and broken glasses everywhere and we were all dehydrated. But that's what you get when you close with the great song Kill Your Friends.

It was a great night in such an intimate venue, and I'm sure I won't get to see something of this calibre again. A big thank you to the Step Inn crew, Soundwave touring and all of the bands for putting such a great show together for a great cause. All up they raised over $13000 for the flood relief. Although it's helpful, for people like me, it was just as good seeing such a great show.

Big Backyard Festival

I was going to put this under the flood news, but it turns out it is not a flood fundraiser. Rather, it's just a kick ass show. Ric's is a great bar known in the past for their indie/hipster music and support of live music. And also delicious chips during lunch time in the Valley.


Now, they're going to have a festival. In their backyard. And upstairs. And downstairs. Three stages. 21 bands. A kind of awesome bar.

So on the 26th of March, expect to see these bands and more:

• You Am I
• Die Die Die
• Pangea
• Six Ft Hick
• King Cannons
• the Cairos
• the Mercy Beat

All playing intimate stages in Rics.

I for one, can't wait.
And of course, it's 18+. It is a bar after all.