Bikini Cops, Beerfridge
Amplifier Bar
Saturday, September 24, 2016
If you have been to Amplifier many times before, you just know that if the place starts to fill up early on, it’s going to be one crazy night! Saturday night was no exception as people were clearly getting ready to celebrate Frenzal Rhomb’s 25th Anniversary with them.
First to open up the celebrations, was local band, Bikini Cops. They started off unruly set with Murder On The TV, a brand new song and Shiver. The lead singer told us that his “voice was fucked after Margaret River last night!” before going on to play Sick Love, Center Of The Universe and another new song.
If you haven’t heard them before, they have short, fast and obnoxiously loud songs. This may sound like a bad thing (and sure – to your elderly parents, it’s definitely a bad thing), however, as one T-Shirt exclaimed, punk rock is a loud, fast and deliberately offensive style of rock music. And for everyone there, never a truer word has been spoken. It’s what we were all there for and Bikini Cops certainly set the tone (and the speed) for the evening. They finished their set with Turpentine, In Space and Another Planet.
Next to grace the stage, were Margaret River locals, Beerfridge. Beerfridge is a thrash/speed/punk/metal band and they did not disappoint. They started their set with Too Late, Nuclear Acid and Bed Of Guys. Within three songs, they had the moshpit going crazier than a two-pot screamer at a house party. They even had a moshing fairy who was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Again, their music may not be everyone’s cup of tea but watching them play was an absolute pleasure. It definitely takes skills to be able to play as fast as these guys were and still actually sound good. They ended their absolutely hectic set with Human Hamburger, Mirrors and We’re Not The One. If you love this style of music, do yourself a favour and check these guys out.
There’s not much that you can say about the headliner Frenzal Rhomb that hasn’t been said before. There is a reason that they are still around after 25 years and that’s because they are one of the best punk bands in Australia (even if a certain, well known and despised radio jockey tried to ‘sink them’ – google it – it’s well worth it!).
Jason Whalley told everyone “If you don’t like the setlist, blame those that voted!” before opening with the least voted songs first, When My Baby Smiles At Me I Go To Rehab, Racist and Genius The energy in the mosh was so electric that you knew not to go in there if you didn’t want to be thrown around.
Whalley told the crowd that the “curse has been lifted.” when they finished Do You Wanna Fight Me as it was the song that drummer Gordy Forman broke his arm to while stage diving last year.
They continued to work through their mammoth set list which included songs like Bird Attack, I Miss My Lung, Your Mother Doesn’t Know that You’re a Nazi (after Whalley thanked everyone for not going to see Henry Rollins instead), Kaan Kaant, Not My Friend and of course, Russell Crowe’s Band (an incredibly popular song that got 18,000 votes….Lindsay McDougall pointed out that the “statistics don’t add up.”).
Frenzal Rhomb not only have great songs, they also have great banter on stage and they have so much charisma that you can’t help but have the best time while you are watching them. The whole place was packed full with everyone singing, moshing, stage diving….
They finished their set with Bucket Bong, You Can’t Move Into My House, Never Had So Much Fun and their most beloved song – Punch In The Face. While there were songs that people would have loved to have seen live, overall, the set list was fantastic and everyone left happy, albeit very sore! But what’s a punk gig if you don’t walk out of there knowing full well that you are going to hurt the next day?
KAREN LOWE
Photography by Karen Lowe
