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First on the incredible bill tonight were the – œGong’s most entertaining gents, Hy-Test. Their guitar driven songs and structured riffs were forced on the few punters ruthlessly. The Little Song That Could was nothing short of kick ass rock n roll. Aside from their foot stomping music, the second best characteristic is their on stage banter. The whole set was reminiscent of the shenanigans that went on at ridiculously out of control house parties that occurred while the parents where out of town, so appropriately came The Party Song. There was a can of baked beans, possibly beer and a song that that ended with ‘whoop, whoop, whoooooopy’. With a finish like that they were certainly going to be a hard act to follow.

While people gathered so did four piece The Sips and it was “Hello distortion”, but that is what they do best. While amps could have been turned down a notch their Ramones-esque punk rock wasn’t well received by the crowd with no more than three claps drifting around the room. Baby Back Down and Never Let You Go had no vigor in them tonight; nor did the guys themselves and considering the charisma of the previous gents it all fell rather flat. Some crowd members even left to wait the set outside. This would have been great if we were sitting around in my garage spending an evening with an Xbox and a carton but tonight it was all rather draining.

Before one knew what was going on it was time for Talons. While it began with some dirty feedback there would be no stopping this juggernaut tonight. While drummer Ben James didn’t drop a beat for the entire set it was the finely executed pauses that made the evening. Their punk rock thrashed around the room before completely exploding upon the crowd. Gravitron was a definite highlight of the evening however Keys and Codes – almost brought the place caving in on itself. The Step Inn was about three-quarters full at this point with crowd nodding along in unison. The gig was insanely loud, but you’d be mad to have a Talons show any other way. If someone wants to explain their self-professed genre – proto-punk – please go ahead.

Face it, few do it better than Violent Soho and this was further cemented into the brains of punters in the steamy room tonight. While Luke Boerdam sung, screamed and wailed through the set, it was Luke Henery who provided the usual entertainment. A cover of My Pal from Melbourne band GOD appeared and the song went out to the late Dean Turner. Having managed the band before his illness took hold, it would be of no surprise if the whole set was played in his honour. The crowd stopped for a millisecond at that point, unusual at a Soho gig, but deserved.

As hair rolled around in a way that made me jealous I’d never have locks that beautiful, the set rolled on with their usual mix of grunge with underlying powerpop. The punters were trying to keep their brand spanking new 7 inch crisp which, for some, failed miserably. A new rendition of Jesus Stole My Girlfriend showed which should be included on the elaboration of We Don’t Belong Here set to be seen around the globe in 2010. Finally, Marty Burke, frontman of Brisbane punk rock legends Razar joined the lads on stage to sing Task Force and before anyone knew it, the night was over.

4122 killed it tonight. Plain and simple.

SET LIST
Scrape It
Bombs
*Not Named Yet
My Pal (GOD Cover)
Muscle Junkie
Slippery Tongue
Eat Your Parents
Love Is A Heavy Word
Son Of Sam
Jesus Stole My Girlfriend
Task Force (Razar Cover)