I have a special fondness for Flipper, and I am not talking about the taste of lightly seared dolphin. Back in 1983 I was singing or, more accurately, shouting and ranting in Brisbane, anarcho-punk band Pictish Blood. We had just scored our first gig which filled us with nervous excitement and a little concern since we only had three songs. We did not want to rehash songs from our previous bands, so the obvious solution was to do some covers, preferably songs we could master easily. The Ramones, Black Flag, Rudimentary Peni, and Discharge seemed like good choices, except those bands favoured ludicrously short songs, and that meant it was going to take a lot of songs to fill in the missing time. We decided it was better to do something longer, something by Flipper. Sex Bomb, from their glorious second single, could be played indefinitely and that suited us. From memory, the version on the single goes for six minutes. We played it for longer. Much longer. And we played it at numerous other gigs. I was looking forward to finally hearing Sex Bomb by its originators. I was not expecting what eventuated.

I arrived at The Manning Bar and was disappointed the venue was only half full. Why were there not more people out to see a genuine old school American punk band (although Flipper always pushed the boundary of what punk was). Maybe the advertising needed to mention that Flipper were West Coast Punk. That might have sucked in the Blink 182 fans, who know nothing of West Coast punk bands like The Avengers or The Weirdos or Flipper. It would have annoyed them to hear the intense, twisted, pounding songs, of Flipper and that would have been great.

Flipper came on stage and singer Bruce Loose (with them since their earliest recordings) berated the crowd for standing too far away and forced them to come closer. He was joined by original members Steve DePace on drums and Ted Falconi on guitar, and newest member Rachel Thoele on bass.

Bruces voice has become more gravely and angry over the years of abuse, and he might have had a throat infection that made that even more pronounced. He was spraying drugs down his throat, as well as swallowing whatever liquid was on hand. Straight whisky being the liquid of choice. He likes talking and was telling stories, making jokes, showing the crowd how to dance, and criticising the audience for their lack of participation. He reminded me of a deranged, hardcore Bill Murray (not that Flipper are hardcore). Steve was a powerhouse on drums, Rachel played a mean bass, and Ted liked to stand in the corner amusing himself on guitar. The overall sound was like grinding glass between your teeth while walking through quicksand. But in a good way.

Flipper played a mix of songs from their history and we were informed that the band do not have set list, they play what they think we need to hear. I was happy to hear Ha Ha Ha which was much heavier and bleaker than on their first single from back in 1981. Bruce introduced a song off Love (the new album they were touring to promote) as being slow and dirge like. I thought every song by Flipper was like that, that is what set them apart from other bands in the punk scene.

The set was going smoothly until Bruce and Steve argued. Steve took offence at Bruce and his showboating, and Bruce was questioning Steve and his tempo choices. Steve left and someone from the audience attempted to take the drumming stool. Steve returned and sent his replacement away and the band started Way Of The World. Bruce was unable to find his entry point and stormed off the stage. Ted threw the microphone into the audience and a small group in the front row became vocalists. Bruce did not return at the end of the song and one audience member was chosen to come on stage and sing Sex Bomb, while the bassist from support act X also joined the band. By the end of the lumbering version of Sex Bomb, and the set, there were even more people on stage singing or stumbling about.

Bruce was not seen again as Steve thanked us, apologised, and explained that this was, after all, a Flipper gig.