Propagandhi, 3 Days Later,Black Blocs @ Capitol, Perth(25/2/09)

Sat 28th Feb, 2009 in Gig Reviews

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This show would have been far better suited and much more appreciated in the open air surroundings of Amps, player comfort was at an all time low upon arrival to the velvet shoe box; the joint was packed, hot and had a certain stench about it. Trying to make your way to the worst situated pisser in Perth, continuously proved to be a display of how many people’s beers you can knock onto yourself and the severe lack of pints for sale meant the music was going to have to be damn fucking good to quell the distinct hint of shitness emanating from the surroundings. And it was.

Black Blocs reportedly opened proceedings with some – œcrazy psychedelic shit’ as quoted by a Propagandhi fan, apologies to them for being unable to give a proper review: the public transport system in this city means a 5 minute journey turns into a 3 day trek which results in missing the first band of the night. Perth needs an injection of some psychedelica into it’s veins so if these guys are doing just that then let’s hope they start appearing more frequently and playing later time slots.

3 Days Later need no introduction, their quickfire 90s inspired brand of skate punk has been ricocheting around the local circuit for a considerable amount of time now and they’ve maintained a sound that’s totally true to the game and completely apathetic to what anyone might think of it. It’s generally been the case in Perth over the last few years that when a major punk band tours these lads will be in support and their persistence has put their name in amongst the better known punk acts around town. So in support of Propagandhi the three piece were in completely familiar territory, machine gunning the crowd with flurries of two minute bullets then basically it was a case of reload and repeat, reload and repeat. It was often tough for an ear not completely familiar with their form to distinguish between tracks and boredom became a risk, but every now and then the crossfire revealed a track that was unavoidable and the cervical vertebrae started to move. They are one of the truer local punk acts and they deserve every major support slot they get.

11 years is a long time between shows, a lot can happen in 11 years, particularly in the music industry. People’s tastes change (admit it, you would have watched a Korn gig 11 years ago) and bands can go awry (insert Korn example again), throw those last 3 lines out for Propagandhi though, their fan base is one that continues to grow and they are about to release an album that’s some of their most solid work to date. Their far left presence was felt well before they took the stage, with promotional stands for Sea Shepard and Veganism set in amongst their own merchandise. Punk is ultimately a democratic political genre, lending itself as much to extreme right views as it does to the left and when a band knows how to manipulate it properly in the direction of their beliefs it becomes a fairly powerful force. The force is definitely with Propagandhi and they are probably the most strong minded political act in the world.

With the eyes of the Sea Shepard skull and bones intimidating the crowd, the Canadian natives worked the crowd into a moshed up lather that defied the Wednesdayness of the night. It was the same Perth crowd that always appears for these seminal 90s punk bands, always just a little bit older but never behaving anywhere beyond their high school glory days. The air was so thick and putrid inside the mosh that breathing became more like eating whole blocks of blue vein cheese, yes it definitely was a show for the 90s kids. Some highly impressive crowd surfing aerial manoeuvres featured and at least a third of the crowd would have ended up moshing in their socks after the trendy slip on shoes of the zeitgeist failed to hold up to how it was done in the previous decade.

Chris Hannah was a brooding figure, with a Koch industries trucker pulled down low and a Millions of Dead Cops t shirt, he wasn’t exactly an engaging public speaker, allowing the bands songs to deliver the message. He delivered new track, Supporting Caste, with the words “this oughta knock your fucking head off” and like the majority of the songs off the new album it did. The metal based sound they have adapted in the latter part of their career blew your tits off and has been made all the more concrete with the recent addition of extra guitarist David Guillas. It was a blitzing extensive set featuring tracks from all over their catalogue, Haillie Sellasse, Up Your Ass from 93’s How To Clean Everything still remains as relevant today as ever, the crowd revelling in the incitement of the tracks crescendo: FUCK RELIGION, FUCK RELIGION, FUCK RELIGION. The band delivered a triple encore including a rendition of Fuck The Border with a couple of punters from the crowd on the vocals. Didn’t do a bad job either to their credit. After finding their lost shoes, the Propagandhi faithful emptied out onto Murray St smelling like shit but with a grin of satisfaction from ear to ear that was saying “who knows when they’ll be back but at least I can say I’ve seen them now”.

Next station, Soundwave.

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