The Dwarves, The Hymies, DickNasty @ The Zoo, 16/02/05

Sat 19th Feb, 2005 in Gig Reviews

Something I believe I have mentioned before is the fact that Brisbane people just will not go out to shows on weeknights. Even when the lineup is a mixture of legendary punk rock bands from Brisbane and overseas.

Dick Nasty are supposedly the most popular band in Brisbane, if you take the 4zzz Hot 100 as a clear indicator. While it may not be the best measure of a band’s true popularity it certainly should speak for something. However, looking at the crowd (or lack of) that came early to see them – their fans either don’t like The Dwarves or are just particularly lazy. The one thing that made this tiny turn out more annoying was the fact that they played a sensational set.

Consisting of a good mix of older and new material as well as a great Dillinger Four cover (which was possibly the highlight of the set) they proved that, as a band, they have what it takes to challenge the big boys as a dynamic live act. With the dual vocal attack of guitarists John and Geordie complimented by bassist Lucas’ thrashing around the stage and drummer Cuffy’s unwavering drumming, they’re as good to watch as they are to listen to.

Next up were The Hymies, a band I was yet to see, due mainly to their rather inconstant gigging schedule. I had, however, heard many good things about them so my expectations were quite high. With the crowd slowly building up, they played a solid set of punk rock tunes that, admittedly, seemed to fit the bill slightly better than the previous band. Aesthetically they were aided by a decent, if not at times overzealous, lighting display and the antics of the shirtless, sunglass-wearing bassist Brad – who saw no harm in spending a decent amount of time in the crowd. The crowd seemed to really enjoy seeing the all too rare sight of The Hymies actually playing a show, so the response was quite massive for a relatively unknown band. I’ll certainly go and see them again, I just hope it doesn’t take too long for them to play another show.

But as the crowd promptly shifted to the front of the stage, it was obvious that everyone was here to see the legendary Chicago garage punk band who, this year, celebrate 22 years since the band was formed. After hearing so many stories about previous shows that the band has played, I was expecting something short, fast, violent and offensive.

Well everything seemed to be going to plan when the band walked onto the stage, guitarist He Who Cannot Be Named was totally naked wearing only a wrestling style mask and frontman Blag Dahlia sported a shirt with the word “slut” clearly plastered across his chest.

Straight away the music was brash, loud and really bloody good. The band was tight, fast and had a hell of a lot of energy. If Henry Rollins had even half the charisma of Dahlia, he’d be a lucky man. The rest of the band was solid, if not a little more subdued, but this seemed to work in the band’s favour. While the band is known for playing incredibly short sets (generally averaging around 20 minutes) tonight’s clocked in at over double that, uncharacteristically long for a Dwarves show.

Unfortunately, I have to say that a twenty-minute set may have been a better idea tonight. Don’t get me wrong, the band didn’t falter the whole time, remained dynamic and tight the whole way through, but after a while it seemed to be just more of the same and the novelty tended to wear off. At the end of the set, there was a fairly half-hearted attempt to get the band back onstage for an encore, however the majority of the crowd either left or just stood around looking at the stage dumbly.

Tonight’s show would have been suited to a smaller, more appropriate venue as The Zoo seemed slightly sterile for such a lineup. The amount of space in the room made it comfortable for the punters, but didn’t help the vibe too much. The general consensus was that it wasn’t quite up to scratch when compared to previous tours, but it was the Dwarves, so who cares?