The Arena        Thurs July 13

Another weeknight, another tour, another $50.00-plus ticket. The ticket price was a non-issue on the night for the few hundred-strong primarily male audience, who had been waiting years for such an event. The chants began early. The activity on the floor was already fervent during Bad Day Down’s opening slot, which did nothing to deter them.

In a line, Bad Day Down are fast punk-rock, with tricky rhythms and melody. Their natural precision was encouraging, given the relatively new addition of drummer Sean Mealor. Their edge and speed made them a fitting opener for the West Coast punk night.

With a sponsor behind the choice to have Goons Of Doom play it’s little wonder that they were so wrong for the spot. Their psychedelic garage rock would have been perfect for an art school graduation party, but the Sydneysiders simply tried too hard to look like they didn’t care. The self described ‘kooky five-piece’ gave their set some interest value in the last song as their leading male vocalist sung upside down while using the lighting grid like monkey bars, but the emergence of a sock covered male streaker slapped the audience with a final, un-amusing insult.

Pennywise barely let the dust settle on the Goons’ set before emerging with Unknown Road. Every bit energetic as their music, the Californians layered a number of classic tracks around a couple of newbies taken from new album The Fuse.

With a memorable history here in Brisbane, Pennywise shared a few stories and reminded the sweaty, festival-like crowd of their longevity. Through great anthemic punk rock tracks like Fuck Authority, Pennywise turned it on for the pit. They ended familiarly with Bro Hymn, but not before ripping through their Aussie favourite and traditional cover of Land Down Under.

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*