Not long after their tour in support of Bad Religion, Strung Out have returned to Australia to play their own headlining shows and what’s more they have brought with them fellow Californians and punk rock legends No Use For A Name.
Adelaide is the first show on the Australian leg of their tour and there is always the fear of getting a warm up show, but having seen these bands a number of times I knew that we would getting nothing short of a cracker
With a double bill like this I was expecting a massive crowd and the Adelaide punters as usual let me down. The crowd was small and lifeless, I know its was a Wednesday night, but fuck me these are two of the best punk bands you’ll ever see.
Local band The Brews were up first. I’ve seen these guys open many a punk gig in Adelaide and they always put on a high energy show. Tonight was probably the best I’ve seen them play, their sound was good and their drummer was great.
Then it was time for the first of the main acts No Use For A Name. Having just released a new album The Feel Good Record Of The Year I was expecting it to dominate the setlist, probably at the expense of some of their older hits. Much to my delight they announced they didn’t know the new album well enough yet and were going to play predominantly old stuff.
Tony and his crew hit the stage and flew straight into Biggest Lie off the new record and followed it with two classics Not Your Saviour and Justified Black Eye which should have had the crowd going nuts. Instead there was space in front of the stage and minimal movement anywhere. The band made several comments about the shitness of the crowd and by song three Tony had had enough, not saying another word for the set and eventually cutting the show a song short.
Despite the crap crowd NUFAN were awesome, the sound was spot on and the set list was amazing. Highlights of the set included On The Outside, Soulmate, Let Me Down Coming Too Close, Chasing Rainbows and a half reggae version of The Answer Is Still No. The set was finished with another cracker Invincible. Then the disappointment, the last two times I’ve seen NUFAN they havent played Feeding The Fire, it was on the list for tonight but due to the crap crowd they cut it out, not fucking happy.
Then it was time for Strung Out. The bands latest record Blackhawks Over Los Angeles was released last year and coincided with their Bad Religion support tour. So having already done an Australian tour in support of the record I was hoping they might not feel the urge to play too much of it at the expense of their older songs. Although this wasn’t entirely to be the case what they did play was awesome.
The boys took the stage and launched into Too Close To See followed closely by Blackhawks Over Los Angeles. Finally the crowd showed a bit and Strung Out responded accordingly ripping through a great set of old and new with amazing energy.
Highlights of the set included Analog, Calling, Exhumation of Virginia Madison, Firecracker, Velvet Alley, a cover of INXSs Don’t Change, Bring Out Your Dead before finishing with Matchbook.
Both bands put on great shows and it’s a pity that the Adelaide punters didn’t come out in force to enjoy it and ensure next time these bands come to town, they include us on the schedule.
