Review: Regurgitator at Metropolis Fremantle

Regurgitator at Metropolis Fremantle
Sunday, May 28, 2023
w/ Custard, DZ Deathrays, Butterfingers, Glitoris

Regurgitator formed in Brisbane in 1993 in the thriving underground Australian alt-rock scene of the mid 90s, as a hi-energy fusion of rap, rock, funk and electronic beats, fronted by the dual vocal attack of guitarist Quan Yeomans and bassist Ben Ely. For a band rooted in that era, their diverse catalogue of music has proved somewhat timeless, with the beloved ‘gurge becoming one of our most vital, enduring and evolving bands of the last 30 years.

Last year marked the 25-year anniversary of their big breakout sophomore album, Unit. It was an ARIA award-winning, triple platinum smash hit, despite it being a departure from their more rock-based debut Tu-Plang. Unit featured a notably more synth-pop based sound, which some fans weren’t happy about, but most loved the way the band evolved. It still has that subversive edge and it offered a prescient synth rock statement on modern society, and what was at the time, the rapidly evolving technological revolution, sparked by the rise of the internet and digital tech. These days polyester girls are everywhere.

Never one to do things by halves, the band that once spent three weeks in a bubble in Federation Square, decided to mark the occasion with a grand national tour with a bunch of their fellow Queenslander mates – 90s legends Custard, hard rockers DZ Deathrays and funk rappers Butterfingers, with Canberra’s femme punks Glitoris rounding out the veritable mini-fest.

The night promised “25 years of Unit in one electric stream of sound and colour” and that’s certainly what we got – a sensory explosion! They had even brought back Unit-era keytarist Shane Rudken for the ride. Collaborator Ken Weston was on board too, curating the awesome 8-bit computer graphic visuals.

With so many bands to get through, festivities started early with Glitoris having the honour of kicking things off at 5.30pm. There was already a decent crowd filling the space in front of the stage, with the early birds rewarded with a rocking set from Glitoris, who got things started with a bang. Shouts out to all those who got down early and powered through to the end of the show at 11pm on a Sunday! The mirthful crowd of mostly older 90s kids seemed excited for the occasion.

If the hard rocking sounds of their new single Lickety Split didn’t wake people up, they certainly did when they greeted the crowd “How the fuck are you Fremantle?” The four members are loud, proud women who go by the monikers Keven 007, Malcolm, Mickey and Andrew. A tight and ferocious band with loads of punky attitude, heavy riffs and menacing vocals, Keven 007 is a great front woman with real presence.

They’re all about representation and empowerment, and being from Canberra, their songs have a political edge – unapologetic, uncompromising anthems about the environment, indigenous affairs, gender and sexual equality. The Policy was a menacing tune – the title track of their 2018 debut album, it’s almost like their theme song, “You gotta be brilliant, resilient, confident, dominant. This is the Glitoris Policy!”

Decked out in matching camo pants and fluro yellow T-shirts, they wasted none of their short half hour set, charging through their setlist. “Fuck yeah Freo! This is a song about climate change!” The small crowd was loving it, cheering loudly. They finished on the mighty Slut Power, with Andrew taking over on vocals. It was a huge tune with anthemic Rage Against The Machine riffage and ferocious vocals: “Fuck your labels! You can eat me! Reclaiming, our slut glory!”

Glitoris play awesome, confronting, feminist punk with a powerful message, and they rock hard! They’ve got the look, the moves, the songs and the attitude to make it, and I dare say bigger things await.

Butterfingers started 10 minutes late after some issues getting their sound right. When they finally kicked off, they were pumped and full of energy. “This is the last show of the tour – lets have some fun!” frontman Eddie Mark Jacobson announced as they launched into Everytime. “Any Queenslanders in the house?” he asked the crowd, before breaking into his track Queensland, released as Evil Eddie, featuring the catchy refrain “Show your back to us, shake that gluteus maximus!”

While they cracked immature jokes like “Your mamma's on the top of my things-to-do list” on Yo Mama and boasted about themselves on FIGJAM, the band are a tight, professional act – apart from one messed up verse. They ended on the feelgood track Get Up Outta The Dirt.

“We’re Custard from Ipswich” said David McCormack by way of introduction. Fellow 90s legends, who could easily have been co-headliners, the always entertaining band were on at 7.20pm for 45 minutes. It was a short, sharp set, with the band rocking a bit harder than they usually do with a loud trashy sound.

They started with Hit Song and Couple’s Fight. Dave explained how they sometimes look at their songs that are the most popular on Spotify and play them. They were surprised to see one old song on the list, that they said they didn’t know very well, but would play – their cover of The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star, which they released as a B-side on their 1996 single Leisuremaster.

Pack Yr Suitcases “a song we wrote 28 years ago” sounded great, before drummer, Matthew Strong swapped with McCormack, taking over on guitar and vocals for a few tracks including Contemporary Art and Music Is Crap. Always with a good sense of humour, Custard balance the silliness with their trademark wit and sharp, catchy, quirky pop songs.

Dave was back for 1997 classic Pinball Les and of course they had to finish on Apartment – one of the greatest Australian rock singles of all time. Dave’s fame as the voice of Bandit, Bluey’s Dad seems to have transcended everything among some crowds, so it was good to see him taking things back to the Custard days.

DZ Deathrays were given the main support slot, and for good reason – the boys outta Bundaberg ROCK HARD! Amusingly they came on stage to the sounds of Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World, before launching into a heavy guitar assault.

Brimming with energy, and hair, they belt out ferocious, screaming hard rock with driving rhythm. They play so hard, the drummer had a cracked cymbal! The bass player was a beast and had the head banging and swinging the long hair around thing down pat.

Total Meltdown from 2018’s Bloody Lovely was a huge tune. They mentioned they have a new album coming out on Friday as well, and played new singles Tuff Luck and the total thrash-fest of Paranoid. While it’s been a bit quiet on the DZ front of late, the boys are well and truly back and here to remind us they’re one of the hardest rocking bands in the country.

DZ are a hard act to follow and blew the crowd away, such is their intensity – even inspiring some crowd-surfing – but it was time for the main event! And it was all about Regurgitator tonight, as they took the stage to huge cheers. They got straight into it, launching into I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am from their 1996 debut Tu-Plang. Quan Yeomans and Ben Ely really are the ultimate dynamic duo. Along with Peter Kostic on drums, the trio burst onstage in matching yellow tracksuits, rappin’ and rockin’, they’re kinda like the Aussie Beastie Boys.

Despite being the last night of a big national tour, the boys still had loads of their trademark manic energy as they bounded through some classic hits, while some great computer animations flashed on the big screen behind them. Perhaps looking a little rough and loose after a show last night in Adelaide, they sounded as tight as ever – though the definition in sound and clarity of the vocals suffered from the muddy, cavernous Metropolis mix.

A couple more classics in Fat Cop and Blubber Boy had the crowd going off, before they went off stage, and screened a hilariously 80s video of a Terry Bozzio drum solo. After a quick costume change into some amazing silver jumpsuits, they were back and ready to get stuck into Unit! And they played it almost start to finish, kicking off with I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff.

Shane Rudken also made his entrance at this point with his impressively large and futuristic looking keytar, dressed in a full-size bunny suit with ears, with his bearded, grinning face sticking out. A staple of the ‘gurge live show for the 10 years following Unit, it was great to have Shane back. He was a hysterical ball of energy as he strutted around the stage, inciting the crowd like a mascot, playing his keytar like a bunny demon.

Everyday Formula – the more rocking track, that was supposed to lure the fans of the first record in, was run through at a frenetic pace. One of their greatest and most underrated songs, the Ely-fronted, video game inspired Black Bugs was a highlight, with the crowd singing the chorus a capella at the end “What’s at the end of Satan’s rainbow?”

There was a hilariously awesome interlude with Rudken breaking into Metallica’s Enter Sandman on the keytar! While the absolutely manic punk of I Piss Alone featured some ridiculous 8-bit graphics character pissing all over the place. As on the album, this was followed by the totally tripped out experimental title track, showing Regurgitator’s refusal to conform to standard song format, which saw them go independent in the early 2000’s.

All fans knew what the scorching synth noises next meant – signifying the start of I Will Lick Your Asshole, which is always amusing to watch a room full of people sing along to. The saccharine synth-pop of Polyester Girl of course also got a huge response.

The one clever change they made that didn’t follow the album sequence was to put their brilliantly funky, 80s Prince tribute ! (The Song Formerly Known As) near the end of the set to bring the set to a big climax. As on the album, they finished with the Beatles-esque, lush, interstellar sonics of Just Another Beautiful Story. They bid us goodnight and we thought that was it, a fitting finale – but wait! There was more!

They still had enough left in the tank to kick out a couple more encore jams. First I Wanna Be A Nudist from 99’s …art, before finishing with the eternally youthful energy of Kong Foo Sing that saw a huge final mosh. Regurgitator are a national treasure, and this little touring Bris-fest was an appropriately grand celebration for this milestone. May they continue to rock long and hard.

ALFRED GORMAN

Photos by Linda Dunjey