Review : Mickus_B
The first day of 2022 also brought my first gig of the year, with Frenzal Rhomb playing at Coolangatta Hotel with supports from Brisbane, Being Jane Lane and Flangipanis.
Being Jane Lane took the stage and kicked off the night, with many of the crowd avoiding the area in front of the stage, opting to stay in their groups around tables or on couches. I guess 2 years of practising social distancing has us conditioned! Teigan (vocalist) made the observation that the dance floor was empty and within moments, several ladies were all dancing to the next song, making it feel much more like a real show. Teigan made a jibe about nobody with a penis being cool enough to dance and a few partners meekly made their way over for the next song.
Jodie from Flangipanis was filling in on guitar and did such a great job, anyone who didn’t know the band would have thought she was a full time member.
New Year’s Day is when 4zzz do their Hot 100 countdown, and BJL took out the #8 spot with their track, Trouble which they proudly announced before ripping into it. By the end of the set, people were energetic and beginning to loosen up and the smoking area was full of comment about what a great band they had just seen.
Flangipanis were up next, Jodie welcoming everyone with a warm “What’s going on, cunts?!” and bouncing straight into You Don’t Have To Be A Cunt from their late 2021 album, Fuckin Woo.
Always a fun and very swear-filled set, the crowd grew with each song and a mosh pit slowly began to form. Another entry from the Hot 100, this time the #2 song, Good Little Taxpayer had everyone yelling the chorus and getting a little rowdy. With short, punchy and humorous songs, Flangipanis pack a lot into their setlist, never letting the energy dip.
If you’re unfamiliar with these two acts, I highly recommend getting to a show when you can, they are both high-energy, fun bands who put on a great show, you can see how much they love entertaining.
The audience roared as Lindsay, Dal, Gordy and Jay all filed in and the pit became a melting pot of punks, bogans, surf-rats and even a Larry David lookalike. Only a few songs in, during the Scott Morrison endorsed Cunt Act a punter took a nasty fall in the crowd and the show had to be stopped to ensure he was okay. The set ranged from most of the albums (no surprise that there was nothing from Shut Your Mouth but that’s another story) even including a song from the very early days, which Jay pointed out was now 30 years ago. Lindsay asked a punter who filmed this song “please don’t show that to Ben, the original guitarist, he’d be very upset with me!
A punter yelled something, which prompted Lindsay to kick off a rendition of Sweet Caroline with Dal joining in on bass, followed by drums from Gordy. The audience sang along intently, while Jay Frenzal stood silently, wondering what the hell had happened to his punk band.
Lindsay (Doctor) McDougall said they have a new single, one they named the tour after, Gone To The Dogs but he hadn’t bothered to learn it, so we still can’t hear it yet. More classics, including their most successful song Never Had So Much Fun made up the tail end of the show and there were some very sweaty, happy people when the house lights came back up.
Tickets went on sale for this show in May 2021 and although we had to wait through 7 months and 2 reschedules, it was totally worth it.
It was a fun reunion with live shows for me, I had almost forgotten that sense of enjoyment you get when you recognise the opening notes of a song before it rumbles through you, with everyone else around smiling and enjoying the music too. Get out to a show when you can, it’s good for the soul and the industry certainly needs the help.
