Lagwagon, Lungs & Rex Banner @Metro Theatre, Sydney(20/11/08)

Mon 24th Nov, 2008 in Gig Reviews

It’s not the first time Lagwagon have come to our shores. It sure isn’t going to be the last either. 90s punk rock heroes played the Metro to a surprisingly smaller crowd than usual, but a vocal one all the same.

Sydney locals Rex Banner opened proceedings with an energetic set; which celebrated lead singer Cotters last show for the band; moving on to presumably bigger and better things. The crowd seemed to enjoy the set, despite a fairly poor sound throughout the venue.

The crowd swelled to a much more respectable size for another Sydney unit; Lungs. Touted as the best punk band playing around from Sydney at the moment, it was clear that they could mesmerize a crowd. With plenty of sound, despite being a three-piece; crowd favourite – œI lost my legs’ was busted out, and once again despite vocals being way too low the crowd made up for it with some raucous singing of their own. Lungs did nothing but confirm their reputation, and the performance they put on as a support in an under filled venue did nothing but make me think their headlining shows would be even better.

Lagwagon took the Metro stage that, while the posters may have said was an All ages crowd, the average age was definitely up around the late 20s mark. Minus one member; Chris Flipping being sent home for being a delinquent, he was replaced with Australia’s own delinquent; Lindsay from Triple J radio and axe-man for Frenzal Rhomb.

Despite the late call up, Lindsay put in a stand out performance, and barely used his cheat notes at all. The set contained all the songs you’d expect, heavily laden with tracks from – œLets talk about feelings’ and – œHoss’ as well as a few new numbers. Violins, Dividers, and To all my friends were all stand out tracks, and security had their work cut out for them dealing with crowd surfing and several surprising drunken scuffles within the moshpit.

Exiting the stage briefly to tick the obligatory encore box, a chanting audience was greeted with three more songs; Alien 8, May 16th, and a bizarre choice of cover in Brown Eyed Girl to finish off proceedings.

A full throttle set proving Lagwagon have still got what it takes; made all the more better by a solid support lineup. If you missed it; you missed a great night of rock, but then again, they’ll always be out again next year; and I can’t wait.