It was hot in the Gershwin room, and a sizeable crowd had gathered to see the start of Nunchukka Superfly’s set. Boasting Blackie and Ray Ahn of Hard-Ons’ fame amongst its ranks, the Sydney three-piece were nothing short of amazing. Ray’s fingers ran over his bass fret like an angry spider, and Blackie’s swirling hair produced a blanket of sweaty mist over the stage. Joel Ellis attacked his drum-kit so hard that it was hard to hear Blackie’s vocals and guitar in the first few songs. I saw at least two of his sticks break in half after colliding with cymbals. Their songs are a lot more involved and heavy than the Hard Ons material – in some parts I was reminded of the Melvins.

After Nunchukka Superfly’s assault, I snuck out for a quick look at Osterberg in the front bar. It was great to see Lightning Boy Watkins back in action. Style over substance perhaps, but its still early days and, umm, groooooowl…  Also saw most of the Love of Diagrams set later on, who proved that they are an acquired taste well worth acquiring.

Cockfight Shootout seem to developing quite a following, with a packed crowd gathered front of stage eager to check them out. What followed was perhaps the best set I have seen them play, complete with synchronised guitar lifts. A touch of professionalism sneaking in?! Keelan and Slatts still found plenty of time to joke with the crowd. Their latest single Step In Line drew the largest crowd reaction, and deserves to be right up there in this year’s Triple J Hottest 100 I say.

The moment was then upon us - the jam-packed Gershwin Room erupted as LA’s The Bronx hit the stage. Vocalist Matt Caughthran announces to the exuberant crowd that he is “all ours”, and within seconds of show opener Heart Attack American, his t-shirt was ripped clean off. He proved to be a formidable frontman – kind of like a young and drunk Henry Rollins, but with more energy, and a bigger gut.

I’m sure this was the craziest show the Gershwin Room has seen in a long time – crowd surfing and stage-diving was the order of the night, with Matt spending half of the night held aloft by adoring fans. Drummer Jorma Vik held up the back end with power and precision, pouring a bottle of water over himself after nearly every song. Joby Ford and James Tweedy leave most of the theatrics to Matt, but still put in 110% effort into their guitar playing and singing/screaming.

Matt informs us that although Australia has seven of the ten deadly snakes in the world, but “they forgot about four” as the band ripped into a blistering version of Cobra Lucha.  False Alarm, Notice of Eviction, and Los Angeles were other stand-out tracks on the night.  The band also played quite a number of new songs that sounded just as good as the material on their self-titled The Bronx album.

The only downer of the show was provided by certain “stage divers” who felt they were worthy of sharing the stage with one of the world’s best hardcore bands for far too long.  Chain ‘em up to podiums in inner-city doof-doof clubs so that they can get their attention fixes elsewhere please security.

The Bronx left the crowd yearning for plenty more, but we had been politely informed that there would be no encore bullshit beforehand. 

Put simply, Nunchukka Superfly + Cockfight Shootout + The Bronx = Gig of the Year!