FrnkIero and the Patience – Gig Review 9th October @ The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
FrnkIero and the Patience
The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
October 9th, 2016
Support – Walter Schreifels
Arguably the most prolific of the former members – Frank Iero has released two albums in the last three years since My Chemical Romance broke up. The most important was Stomachaches under the guise of FrnkIero andthe Cellabration. The album was a smash hit in the music press garnering him his own small, but dedicated following. Returning to Australia for the second time this year as Frank Iero and the Patience and armed to the teeth with a new record set for imminent release; tonight is about witnessing Iero finally break free from the chains of his past and kicking a door down into a better future.
Tonight begins with the legendary Walter Schreifels, who is about as well known in the punk scene as Coca Cola; playing in prolific bands such as Rival Schools and Quicksand he certainly knows how to play for a crowd. Unfortunately, playing to a group of millennials not even old enough to order anything harder than Red Bull at the bar was probably not a great idea. Coming onstage with nothing but an electric guitar, himself and some sound issues, it’s a lot like the time your dad got wasted and decided he would regale everyone with anecdotes and try and play ‘Wonderwall’ at your house party. Covering everything from the recent clown craze, to even professing to love his own songs, there’s not a single person engaged in anything he’s actually saying and if they’re clapping between songs, it’s out of politeness, a sense of obligation. It’s a shame, because he seems like an engaging, smart guy, but tonight just reeks of punk music on a tight budget.
Cleansing the palette between sets Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ blares over the front of house speaker’s turning the evening into a millennial sing-along, tragically cut short by the lights dimming and Frank Iero and the Patience appearing onstage to rapturous cheers and applause.
Cutting a rather shy, but happy figure up on the stage, Frank Iero launches straight into the catchy ‘Tragician’ which seems to have increased in velocity in comparison to the recorded counterpart. From here he shoots into fan favourite ‘Weighted’ with the small but dedicated crowd filling the room full of their sure to be sore vocal chords, screaming every word back to him like it’s the last thing in the world they’ll ever do.
This infectious abandon sees Iero transform himself into a fiery front man over the course of the night as he spits punk anthems out like the seasoned pro he surely is at this point. Songs like ‘Blood Infections’ and ‘Joyriding’ especially should be registered as lethal as they see the crowd jumping and dancing along like a mass religious exorcism. The new songs such as ‘I’m a Mess’ with the more indie punk edge go over just as well and solidify Iero is here to say as he converses with the crowd between songs, coming across more like a younger, punk version of Bruce Springsteen.
Crying for an encore, it’s not long before Frank comes back on stage to play ‘Where We Belong? Anywhere But Here’ before dedicating a brutal cover of The Ramones ‘Rockaway Beach’ to his cousin who recently moved to Australia with Walter Schreifels coming back on stage to join in on the all-out punk celebration.
And as the final notes ring out around the venue, Frank Iero has become the engaging front man his last album only hinted at him being. His metamorphosis into a confident leader of his own band is complete.
Review by Kaydan Howison
Setlist
Tragician
All I Want Is Nothing
Blood Infections
Neverenders
Weighted
She’s the Prettiest Girl at the Party, and She Can Prove it With a Solid Right Hook
Guilttripping
This Song Is a Curse
Best Friends Forever (But Not Now)
Remedy
Smoke Rings
Stitches
Stage 4 Fear of Trying
I’m a Mess
Joyriding
Encore:
Where Do We Belong? Anywhere But Here
Rockaway Beach (Ramones cover)
