Frenzal Rhomb – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 16th June @ Capitol, PERTH WA

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Plugga73

FRENZAL RHOMB
Capitol, Perth, WA
June 16th, 2017
Supports – Leeches, Naked Wizard

“Let’s drink a beer, let’s drink it here, it’s the one thing that is clear,” and so I did. I’ll be honest. Hitting the Capitol for a Frenzal Rhomb show after 4 hours of drinking beers at a Beer Festival down the road is not the best start for a legitimate review and I sincerely apologise to the opening band, Naked Wizard for missing them as a result of my extracurricular activities. Suffice to say I did hit up the merch lady for a rundown who described the band as garage punk (in a good way, she said), with two chicks and two guys going on to describing them as “informative”, whatever the fuck that means. Anyways, again….my bad. I promise if you release an album, I will review it.

The first band I did feast on were Leeches, a three-piece band that have been around the traps now for a few years and managed to get the pit into some early action with their brand of no nonsense punk, developed in the bowels of Doubleview (a western suburb in Perth). Their towering bespectacled bass player plucked away feverishly on one side of the stage, and the bearded pocket dynamo of a vocalist was charismatic as always. Leeches, always a treat. Short, sharp and good fun even though they didn’t play my favourite track, ‘Drain’, or did they? I was drunk.

But we were all here for Frenzal Rhomb, to drink a beer or continue too and join in the chorus of Australian punk royalty or is it debauchery? Either way, the Rhomb always rule when coming to Perth and despite some mishaps in the past, none more so than drummer, Gordy Forman snapping his arm in half in an ill-timed stage diving attempt in 2015. There was none of that tonight however, thankfully, as the band did away with most of their shenanigans, hammering a quickfire hour long set of 20 songs including a bunch from their new album, Hi Vis High Tea.

As Lindsay ‘Doctor’ McDougall took over from the stereo intro to the dulcet tune of some 80s pop tune (*apologies, I sang it at the time, but can’t fucking remember the fucking song), it was game on as the first chords of new track, ‘Classic Pervert’ reverberated around Perth’s Capitol nightclub. Front man, Jay Whalley bounded around the stage as Jay Whalley does, his previously pig worm infected head of hair as disgusting as always as it flicked back and forth often turkey slapping (his hair that is) the front rowers as he leaned into the crowd, sometimes jumping into the pit to assist the mayhem. The band’s nod to Sydney punk legends, The Hard Ons, ‘Ray Ahn is My Spirit Animal’ was next, seemingly played faster then what appears on the album, as is often the case with a live punk show. More High Vis tracks followed, ‘Cunt Act’ and ‘Stacking Shelves’ with the banter between band members increasing between each track almost battling each other sometimes to give each other shit.

Besides the new tracks, there was plenty of time for reminiscing, Frenzal ploughing through an array of greatest hits allowing for the karaoke sing-a-longs. ‘Bucket Bong’, ‘Genius’, ‘You Can’t Move into My House’, ‘You Are Not My Friend’, the front of the dance floor now enveloped into a crazy mosh pit of stage divers and mini circle action, the mid floor including myself making up the majority of drunks, beers in hand with arms around your missus or mates shoulders singing in unison or the back people, either too old or too seedy, too cool or just too tall to make into the first two groups.

The beautiful ballad, ‘I Miss My Lung’ was heart wrenching, the tale of ‘Pig Worm’ and his battles was engrossing and the fairy tale, ‘Ship of Beers’ was momentous as if being re-enacted by myself as my gut churned the copious amounts of booze consumed in the hours prior.

Suffice to say, Frenzal can still nail any show they play. A perfect blend of the new and the old in both song and crowd, a timeless blend of comedy and punk. Never change cunts!

Setlist

Classic Pervert
Ray Ahn Is My Spirit Animal
Cunt Act
Stacking Shelves
Russell Crowe’s Band
Mummy Doesn’t Know You’re a Nazi
Bucket Bong
School Reunion
Storage Unit
Genius
Bird Attack
The Black Prince
You Are Not My Friend
I Miss My Lung
Pig Worm
Ship of Beers
When My Baby Smiles at Me I Go to Rehab
You Can’t Move Into My House
Never Had So Much Fun
Punch in the Face

Review by @Plugga73

Check out our review of Hi-Vis High Tea here
Revisit our interview with Frenzal’s Jay Whalley here

Check out the photo gallery by Kim Anderson below – Please credit Kim Anderson and Wall of Sound if you repost. Facebook: Shoot The Wicked Witch Instagram: @kimshootswitches Twitter: @stwwphoto

FRENZAL RHOMB