Municipal Waste @ theArthouse, Melbourne (12/08/06)

Fri 18th Aug, 2006 in Gig Reviews

The first thing I notice on Monday morning is that I have overslept, and the muscles in my legs and neck ache.

I limp towards the shower on my stiff, grazed knee and feel the blisters on my feet. My thigh is corked and bruising. In the mirror, my eyes are red under my messier-than-usual hair and I can feel slight lumps forming on my head.

The classic signs of a bad ‘bangover’ and a common symptom experienced by those lucky enough to see Municipal Waste rip through Australia. 

“If you drink too much, you wake up in the morning with a hangover” explains bassist Land Phil to the packed-out Arthouse in Melbourne on Saturday night, “but when you go to a Municipal Waste show, you’ll wake up with a bangover!”  The rest of the band takes that as a cue and launches into the last song of that same title, Bangover, while the people at the front of the pit take it as a cue to launch off the stage, boogie boards in hand, onto the crowd. 

This type of activity is commonplace at most Municipal Waste shows.  If you want crowd surfers with boogie boards, beer bongs, plastic swords, axes, shields, bike helmets, inflatable sharks, lifejackets, or masks ordinarily worn by Mexican wrestlers, then you should have been at the Arthouse on Saturday and Sunday night.

The evening began on Saturday with Melbourne death/grinders Dad They Broke Me and Agents Of Abhorrence. The latter of the two put on a notably good set, with the drummer being the standout personality of the group. Bloodduster held the main support for this show, their first after a lengthy break from the stage. They gave a hard-hitting, tight set for the reasonable number of fans that came to see them, but it was clear that the crowd was here to be ‘wasted’ as the anticipation built for the Virginian Thrashers. Frontman Tony Foresta did his part in getting the both the band and the crowd wasted, bringing out a homemade beer bong to distribute beer among the ensemble on the stage and those willing in the audience.

From the first cord, the pit erupted into a riotous frenzy of stage diving, moshing, head banging, circle pits and all-out mayhem reminiscent of the 80s. Municipal Waste’s enthusiasm and excitement is downright addictive as they plowed through the set, playing a range of crowd favourites like Terror Shark, The Thrashin’ Of The Christ, Unleash The Bastards, Toxic Revolution, Mutants Of War and the twelve-second-long I Want To Kill The President.

The Waste exude a genuine sense of fun through their onstage performance and song content. They don’t try to be political, most of their songs are based around mutants, drinking, thrashing, partying, Kurt Russell and 80s horror movies. At one point, Vocalist Tony warned possible stage divers that anybody onstage for an “annoyable” amount of time would be on the receiving end of a wedgie. And those who did not listen to this warning did indeed receive wedgies.

In spite of all their onstage antics, Municipal Waste is not a joke when it comes to playing music.  They delivered a tight set list with Slayer-like fast riffs from guitarist Ryan Waste, solid backing in bassist Land Phil and equally solid drumming from Dave Witte.

“What can I do to stop this bangover?” Tony screams into his microphone during the closing song.  Take two painkillers with water every 4 to 6 hours.  If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.