Check out all of the pics of this long awaited show here.

1998. For anyone who is old enough to remember 1998 it was the last time Propagandhi brought their anti-authoritarian, politically charged punk rock to Australian shores. To say the Arena was abuzz with excitement at 8:00pm would be nothing short of an understatement.

Forefold come to stage and begin with their no bullshit, straight up punk. Josh Gotty belts out vocals with a fiery disposition while supplying rhythm to the music which fades in and out behind Scott Mealors trashing riffs. Sean Mealor transcends the most basic punk percussion into thriving beats that envelope the Arena with disregard to peoples hearing. Eventually the curse of opening at the Arena strikes again and the first band get the short stick of sound which leads into undecipherable vocals mixed into screeching guitars while drums run wild over the course of the whole set.

Standard Brisbane punk supports Bad Day Down come out of the gates with their aggressive music and jaded lyrics. Another politically driven set including what is probably their strongest song Australian is a State of Mind. A good example of sharing sees Sean Mealor back on the kicks for the second time that evening and doing an even better job after the Forefold warm-up. Benjamin’s (or B1) lead vocals are subdued in parts making it hard to enjoy the hardcore elements that make appearances in their songs. It would be nice to see these guys do more around the Brisbane traps than be stock standard supports, God knows they’re good enough.

The lights come on to four gentlemen taking up instruments. 11 winters of waiting and Propagandhi has finally arrived. As A Speculative Fiction begins the crowd surges forward like a bunch of angry moths to a punk flame. The set is riddled with songs from the new album Supporting Caste which was meant to be released for this Australian tour but never made it. The Bringer of Greater Things closely followed by And We Thought the Nation States Were a Bad Idea ensured that the calm from hearing the new songs is quickly dispersed and the mosh pit swells with bodies screaming lyrics. Less Talk, More Rock sees Chris Beaver make the inclusion of a second guitar give old songs a whole new dimension of solid riffs. Haillie Sellasse, Up your Ass takes the tempo down for 4 minutes but hundreds of people screaming fuck religion, fuck religion with middle fingers raised is a sight to behold.

Chris Hannah (aka Glen Lambert) sounds almost spot-on to the recorded works and his size makes his guitar look almost insignificant but when he hits the six-strings it is something to respect. The departure of John Samson saw the loss of the poetic punk that filled their first two albums were full of and saw a move into heavier metal influences with Today’s Empires, Tomorrows Ashes which was one song that almost saw the roof come down. As that riffs starts, my eyes turn to the complete stranger next to me and in unison we just look at each other, mouth the words get farked, then Anti-Manifesto is in full swing but it can be certain that these four gents are no longer a faded sticker on a skateboard. In true Propagandhi style t`onight they are championing the Sea Shepherd (www.seashepherd.org) in line with their constant support of anarchist causes and human rights activities. Stick the Fucking Flag up Your Goddamn Asses, Fuck the Border and Back to the Motor League spat out the speakers and before everyone knew it, it was over. Though your average sized set, everyone in the crowd would have put in $20 each to hear more of the back catalogue. Thanks to the long wait, the cracker set didn’t seem to satisfy the Propagandhi hungry appetite.