No Sleep Til @ EntertainmentCentre, Adelaide (15/12/10)

Thu 16th Dec, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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This review has a disclaimer. It shall be written in two sections: GWAR, and everyone else.

Before I’d seen GWAR, I could safely say “I have never had a giant prosthetic penis ejaculate blood all over me”. Until I’d seen GWAR, I never realised I had to! I remember reading about them when I was a little tacker, and thinking “surely a band who needs costumes and props can’t be good, right?”

How very, very wrong I was.

I had my sneaking suspicions when my mate Wokka noticed a gigantic sign next to the stage warned that we could possibly be covered in fake blood, fake spew, or fake pus. I did the manly thing and hid behind my friends (if you must know, I work as a nurse and didn’t think it appropriate to turn up to treat my patients with arms covered in blood – just doesn’t seem professional!), which was definitely the right decision, as about 30 seconds later some poor “victim” had his hands “chopped off”..... It may have looked just a LITTLE fake….. This continued through the show, getting progressively worse, or funnier, depending on how you view this things. I thought it was the funnest thing I’d ever seen in my whole life!

The strangest thing, however, was the fact the songs were actually really fricken good! Pretty classic 80s-style thrash, but they were pretty damn good musicians. It was great watching them attempting to sing with the masks on! I’ll say one thing about GWAR – they make Musical Theatre not only palatable, but one of the greatest moments I’ve ever had. Holy crapballs!

Now, onto the other bands. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have never really been my schtick, I must admit. I love punk music, and most of these guys other bands, but the Geelong kid in me just hates the idea of any cover bands. Sure, they all sound great, but I’d much rather see NOFX or Lagwagon. Gotta give Fat Mike some credit for getting onstage and saying “finally, a band that doesn’t suck!” Ouch.

Alkaline Trio were up next, and I wasn’t sure they were going to be able to top the Fowler’s show when they were touring Crimson. They didn’t top it, but they came pretty damn close. The set appeared to mostly have tracks from Crimson, but a few oldies were chucked in (not many, though), and I might be counting wrong, but I’m pretty sure there was only one or two tracks from the last two albums. Matt Skiba appears to have ditched his Les Pauls and got a Fender endorsement, because he was rocking the Jaguars, and a new Fender amp. It sounded huge, especially since they’re a three-piece. Highlights were Mercy Me, Stupid Kid, and Warbrain. Great times.

I learned something about Frenzal Rhomb last night. You should never watch them sober. Or maybe I should never watch them sober. They’re a great band, and good fun, but there’s something about being intoxicated that makes them the greatest band of all time (at that time). Like watching the Cosmic Psychos. The kids went off, though.

I must admit feeling a little sorry for Parkway Drive after the armageddon in musical form that was GWAR. I wondered how the hell anyone was going to be able to follow it up. Parkway did it simply by doing what they do. I’ve never been a massive fan of hardcore ( I Killed the Prom Queen probably being the only exception), but these guys sound amazing. Such a huge sound, and just little hints of melody at times. I don’t care what style of music you play, as long as you have a little melody. Even so, it was amazing seeing just how popular they are. My 15 year old self would never have thought hardcore would EVER be this popular. Stoked.

As for Boston’s Dropkick Murphys, to me they’re like Billy Connolly. They could be singing about anything, and it’d be awesome. That mix of cultures and styles is always so much fun. The songs were great too. Always worth watching.

Ahhhhhh, NOFX. They really, REALLY like pissing people off. What I don’t understand is how anyone in the crowd could have taken them seriously. I had some guy next to me shouting at them to come down and fight him, quite clearly a Megadeth fan. I would have told him to chill if I didn’t think he would have torn out my eyeballs for suggesting such a thing. Despite the angry bogans, it was a tight set from the band. I must admit I’ve neglected NOFX in my music experience, but after the set last night I’ll be remedying that. I recognised a fair few songs, and sang along to a few, which surprised me. I guess the songs are just that memorable! The band really WERE jerks, but they were kind of adorable. Being smack bang between the punk and metalhead crowd, I just found the whole thing hilarious. NOFX played snippets of classic metal songs, heckled, insulted everyone, and mucked around the whole time. Highlight of the set wasn’t a song, but when Matt Skiba interupted the set to hand back a blind girl the walking cane she’d thrown at the band in excitement. For a card-carrying member of the Church of Satan, the guy’s a saint!

I should preface the Megadeth review with the confession that I’ve waited 20 years to see them. I bought Rust in Peace when I was 15, it’s been in my top 10 ever since, and I’m not ashamed. So, to say I was looking forward to it would be like saying that GWAR’s perfomance was slightly surprising. The hardest part of that of course, is that with high excitement comes high pressure. Thankfully, the band was on fire, going through the first three songs of Rust in Peace like a tank through a china shop. And then back through it again, just to make sure everything was crushed. Then, unfortunately, the speakers started to crap themselves. Dave Mustaine looked pretty pissed, but was very polite to the crowd explaining that they were just going off stage for a little bit “because we want to give you our best”. They were only off for about 30 seconds, but the sounds wasn’t the same for the rest of the album. It was still a great performance and the band looked like they were mostly having fun, but it was all pretty muddy, even at the mixing desk (where you’d think it would be the best-sounding point in the room). Surprising, the second they started playing Head Crusher, the sound cleared up. Maybe the triggered drums. Either way, they also played Symphony of Destruction, and an absolutely ferocious version of Peace Sells. My friends may tease me about my love of Megadeth, but that was worth the wait. My inner bogan has been sated!