Unwritten Law @ Fowler's Live,Adelaide (25/03/11)

Tue 29th Mar, 2011 in Gig Reviews

What else would you rather be doing on a Friday night than seeing one of punk rocks finest, Unwritten Law, Round 1 AFL pffft!! And the Adelaide punters didnt let them down, by showing up in force, for what promised to be a great show. Touring on the back of the yet to be released new album Swan, I was a little worried we might just get a night of new unfamiliar material, but I couldn’t have been more wrong with a classic filled set and few newies that stacked up well against the classic tunes we have come to know and love.

Up first were Burn the City who contain 50% of the recently retired Bodyjar. With Tom and Grant on board its no surprise that these guys sound a little more polished than your regular opening act. Also not surprising was the familiar sound, this band could be Bodyjars heavier rocking cousin. Although my silent calls for Windsock were ignored these guys gave the growing crowd something to cheer about.

Also along for the ride and second up were Sydney siders Heroes for Hire. I’d heard of these guys, but hadnt seen them before and they were really impressive. Although personally not a huge fan of the pop-punk vocals, musically and energy wise these guys were smoking, despite the almost lack of interest from the older crowd. With songs such as You Cant Spell Stud Without STD and the finisher Bright Lights in Paradise off their debut album Life of the Party, they did their job of warming the crowd well.

Then it was time for everyone had waited for Unwritten Law. The boys entered the stage to some old school hip hop lead by their charismatic front man Scott Russo hooded up and very quickly launched into Up All Night followed by Teenage Suicide which had the crowd going mental right from the start. Pat was moving like a mad man on the bass looking like (and here’s one for SANFL fans) a head banging Asian Gary McIntosh. Highlights of the set were Seein Red, Shoulda Known Better, the massive sing along to Cailin which had half the crowd reaching for the video in their phones and the awesome She Says. Without a barricade at the front the crowd going mental there was a regular stream of punters on the stage, but the band just took it in their stride and laughed off the destruction of mic stands and speakers by some stage crashers. The main set was finished with one of the first songs the band ever played the crazy and fast CPK.

After a short break the boys re-entered the stage for a phenomenal encore including a surprise cover of Grinspoon’s More Than You Are, that just about got the biggest sing along of the night, Harmonic before finishing the night with an extended version of Lonesome. I’ve seen these guys more than a handful of times, but tonight was by far the best show Ive seen them put on, absolute cracker!!