Lagwagon - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 13th March @ Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
Lagwagon
The Metro, Sydney NSW
March 13th, 2020
Supports: Through Being Cool and Rort Menace
Sneaking in amongst the COVID-19 pandemonium on Friday, depending on who you ask, Lagwagon and the audience who shrugged off the public gathering warnings to make it to The Metro in Sydney (including myself) were either very brave or very foolish. Still, the turnout for possibly one of the last live gigs in Sydney for a month or two made the night worth it, as fans got to catch one of the legends of the Fat Wreck Chords stable for a night of punk singalongs to a massive 30 year catalogue.
The first supports of the night were a band hailing from around my neck of the woods, Through Being Cool, a band I caught last year at The Entrance stop of the Bodyjar/28 Days tour. A fun band to watch, with some light banter between songs, Through Being Cool know how to relax and have fun with their set, belting out some rockers to get the growing crowd in the mood.
Another band belonging to the awesome Newcastle punk community, Rort Menace were up next. It’s the first time I’ve seen this band, but they’ve been doing the punk circuit since 2014 or so. They sounded great, with shared vocal duties between bass player Madeleine and guitarist Will, as they stormed through a setlist of songs going all the way back to their early days.
With the supports all done, it wasn’t long before the band of the hour took to the stage, and at around 9.45 the lights went out for Lagwagon’s intro. For over an hour and a half the band belted out a mix of old and new, including tracks from their latest album Railer such as ‘Surviving California’ and ‘Parable,’ as well as drawing from albums Hang all the way back to Duh. The crowd lapped it all up, with singalongs to the classics (including my favourite ‘May 16’) along with a few crazy folks invoking the 90’s with some stage dives that fell flat – don’t try that at home, kids. The stage banter was aplenty, with numerous references to personal hygiene.
After a brief break, Lagwagon returned for an encore, with Joey Cape leading the crowd for a rowdy singalong of ‘Alien’, leading into another favourite of mine, ‘Making Friends.’ With an epic finish, punters of The Metro were sent off into the night safe in the knowledge that even if they make the Corona news on Monday, the night of punk rock celebrations was worth the effort.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to board my windows up and prepare for the apocalypse. Catch you in a month or two.
Gig Review by Simon Valentine (@SimonValentine1)
Photo Gallery by Corey Nathan. Insta: @CoreyNathanPhoto
Please credit Wall of Sound and Corey Nathan if you repost.
Through Being Cool
Rort Menace
Lagwagon
Lagwagon – Australian Tour 2020
Sunday 15th March – 170 Russell, Melbourne
Wednesday 18th March – UniBar, Adelaide
Thursday 19th March – Capitol, Perth
