The Bronx - Live at theAnnandale

Wed 2nd Feb, 2005 in Music Reviews

Aaaaah, The Bronx. Who can forget their recent tour of Australia, when they blew us away with their fantastic live performance and love of jumping into the crowd? Great music, great atmosphere – now you can relive the whole experience with The Bronx – Live at the Annandale. Recorded by one of the hotel employees on a handheld camera (with no additional production or editing), it is 46 minutes of pure mayhem! This is the first release in the Live at the Annandale DVD series, with more to come in future.

The unsteady recording lends a bit of an ‘at sea’ feeling to viewing and takes some getting used to, but the mesmerising performance of the band soon makes you forget your woes.

Beginning with the tremendous I Got Chills and stampeding through twelve more songs of unrelenting hardcore, frontman Matt Caughthran hollers, screams and sweats his way around, on and off the stage. He takes his first excursion into the crowd by the third song and does so several more times throughout the set. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’ when it comes to The Bronx. A fantastic showman, Caughthran gives 100% to the performance and delivers each song with limitless energy.

The other three members of the band, Joby Ford, James Tweedy and Jorma Vik play a scorching set of furious riffs, breakneck bass and manic drumming. Although the songs sound utterly chaotic, this is one tight band whose live performances are second to none. You could not wish for a better show. The intensity is maintained from beginning to end and you simply cannot drag your eyes away from the television.

Heart Attack American, Bats, They Will Kill Us All and Kill My Friends are the better known songs, and go down a treat with the audience. There are also two covers in the set: Neil Young’s Needle and the Damage Done, and The Saints’ Private Affair.

If you haven’t yet seen them live, this DVD is a fabulous way to acquaint yourself with the madness that is The Bronx, and if you were able to catch one of last year’s shows, this is the perfect way to reminisce about one of the touring highlights of 2004. Hopefully they will be back soon so that the whole experience can be repeated.

Bonus features: They Will Kill Us All (live edited clip) and a short intro to the DVD by Matt and Joby.