Fucked Up, I Exist @ TheStandard, Sydney (6/12/2011)

Thu 8th Dec, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It almost looked like a really frustrating time for Fucked Up fans. After a debut Australian tour that saw them play a small stage at Soundwave and open a 4-band hardcore bill on the side, they were finally back for one more tour… opening for Foo Fighters at some of the country’s biggest venues. So the late addition of their first ever Sydney headline show came as a relief, especially with the recent suggestion of a hiatus after this tour.

It must’ve been an exciting night for I Exist too, whose triple-guitar, riff heavy support slot made their namesake obvious. It was a choice angled at Fucked Up’s metal side, with most songs chugging along at a slow, heavy pace. It sounded great, but wasn’t terribly exciting to watch – the vocalist looked pretty disengaged throughout the set, and there wasn’t much animation to be found elsewhere. But brute force was clearly the focus, and in that respect they delivered.

Fucked Up, on the other hand, have a more complicated relationship with force. Sure, the whole thing is incredibly loud, and Damian Abraham’s bellowed lyrics are delivered with power, but Fucked Up are more nimble than their hardcore background would suggest. Sometimes, like on early crowd favourite Black Albino Bones, they take hardcore and run with it to a sound that’s their own. But other songs, like the celebratory set opener Queen of Hearts, almost ditch it altogether in favour of grand, fist-pumping rock – much like Andrew WK or even Springsteen.

Of course, in the crowd it’s greeted like it should be – as a thriving, celebratory punk rock show. What a shame, then, that the venue’s security were so woefully mismatched. Keeping patrons safe is one thing (and by one thing, I mean their job), responding to exuberant dancing and the odd crowdsurfer with actual violence is another. Seeing visibly angry, aggressive security is never fun, and at times made for an us-vs-them vibe in the crowd that could’ve been avoided by, y’know, security who aren’t meatheads.

Memo to The Standard: We’re glad you’re a new venue, we need more people like you. We can look past the expensive drinks and the early curfew. But as soon as we see kids getting dragged around in headlocks, it’s a deal-breaker. Fix it now – punk shows work fine elsewhere, and we’re sure you can find security who aren’t too stupid to tell the difference between dancing upstairs and a bar fight at Kinselas downstairs.

Lucky for punters, then, that they had an ally in lead singer Damian Abrahams. At multiple times he called for security to leave punters alone, even leaving the stage to intervene. And that regard for his audience carried throughout the show – Damien seemed incredibly happy to be with his fans, chatting between songs and dropping in some appreciated nods to Australian music (raving about The Hard-Ons and comparing his own thought of moving to Australia with The Saints’ and The Birthday Party’s relocations to Europe). He even made his way through the crowd post-show, giving sweaty hugs to anyone willing.

He was an animated frontman during songs too, spending plenty of time in the crowd and even spending half a song standing on the bar (before scaling the balcony next to it). He was definitely the focal point, with the rest of the band remaining fairly unanimated for most of the show. It didn’t matter though – they sounded fantastic.

A trio of Chemistry of Common Life songs gave a very strong close to the main set, with Magic Word, Crooked Head and Son The Father making for the liveliest scene of the night (a growing solidarity against the security probably helped, too).

An encore came with just one song allowed before curfew, a charged version of Police that made for the rowdiest moment of the show. The room heaving, Damian promised just one thing to his Sydney fans – that Fucked Up will be back. And then, with curfew passed and stagehands furiously waving, they gave each other a cheeky look and tore into one more song. Here’s hoping that return happens soon.