The Hydey has to be one of the favourite venues of rock n roll and punk in Perth. Where else can the punters smoke the wacky backy, get kicked out in droves by bouncers, experience dodgy electrics and meet the wonderful array of people who go there? But maybe some people just love it for the memory of the good times had there and all of the bands who have played over the years.

Bloodstock II started off with The Creepers, influenced by 80s punk and claiming to be Perth’s shittest punk band, the sparse crowd who showed up early enough to catch them found a band who were heavily influenced by all that 80s punk gold, but weren’t actually Perth’s shittest punk band – we’ve seen worse fellas!

Then it was a short walk to the other side of the bar for Scalphunter’s debut. They sound like rock with punk vocals and these guys went at it so hard they snapped their strings, but kept going anyway.

Next up was the rhythm driven The Order of the Black Werewolf. Their guitarists play around with a lot of fun riffs. Any band who throws some surf guitar into a hard rock line up like Bloodstock II gets automatic extra brownie points.

Black Buzzard started almost instantly afterwards. The Hydey became a wall of dirty blues based rock n roll the way your daddy used to do it. Every head was bopping along to the beat.

Then the hair started flying with The Floors; a band who are powerfully punchy but not afraid to strip their music down and manage to make it sound great. Why their bassist was burning incense from the side of his amp, we’ll probably never know. Weird boy; this is a rock gig, not a church!

Next up was Project Mayhem, fresh from their CD launch. Singer Benny Mayhem was, as usual, more than at home on stage and loving the attention, even venturing into the crowd as if to say You can’t ignore me. They played a mixture of old favourites like Gonzo Rock as well as a few tracks from their new CD that ensured that punters walked away from their set singing “Party at your house”.

Up next was the highlight of the night, Chainsäw Hookers. The band paid homage to their influences by having some of their members dressing up like Turbonegro. However the differences between the two bands became obvious when the Hookers sang about pussy as opposed to sodomy. Front man Lucky Toscadero impressed the crowd when he finished the crowd’s game of used glass and bottle soccer by smashing the empty glass on his head before continuing the set. Now that’s rock n roll, motherfucker!

Finishing the night was The Devil Rides Out who played quite a few of their new songs, proving that fans have something to look forward to at their upcoming shows. At the end of their set, a chorus of “encore” and “one more song” found the crowd entertained by another two songs by the Devils before the bouncers proceeded to drive the punters out even if their beers were only half-finished.