Frenzal Rhomb @ Prince Of Wales
w/ Naked Wizard, Leeches
Saturday, June 17, 2017
How do you know that a night at The Prince of Wales in Bunbury is going to be a crazy night? Well a fair sign may be: people in fancy dress; a line outside waiting to get in and; the knowledge that a little band called Frenzal Rhomb will be playing a song about Bunbury (called Bunbury) from their new album Hi-Vis High Tea.
First up was a local band, Naked Wizard. They are a great punk band and it’s always refreshing to see such a talented front-woman jump around on stage, giving it her all and clearly not giving a shit. They played Eggs, Naked Wizard, Creeper and Weekend amongst others and their setlist was covered in cats so they win.
Next up was Leeches, a staple in the Perth Punk scene and always a brilliant band to see. This was their “second night supporting Frenzal Rhomb and making them look good” as lead singer Benny J. Ward mentioned. They played Running Like The Wind, Cracked & Broken, Creep (dedicated to Naked Wizard) and ended with The Cure & Wilding Street.
Once again, they put on a great show and by the time they had finished their set, the pit was getting crazy and was a good indication of how the rest of the night would be.
After the cat-fight was broken up, Frenzal Rhomb walked on to Can’t Fight This Feeling with Lindsay “The Doctor” McDowens singing the chorus. It was time to get down to business and the first song, Classic Pervert was dedicated to Dune Rats (who would be playing there the next night). They also played Ray Ahn and Cunt Act. “That’s the second time we’ve played the first three songs live,” Jay Whalley told the audience. “By about the fifith time, we will get them right!” (and indeed….while most were probably too drunk to realise, Whalley did make a mistake at the end of Stacking Shelves).
As always, Frenzal ensure that they play a great mix of old songs with the new. Their old songs included, Russell Crowe’s Band, Bucket Bong, Genius, Bird Attack and Not My Friend while their new songs included School Reunion, Storage Unit and Black Prince.
A few people had already been dragged off stage and both The Doctor and Whalley had told a few people off for being dicks in the mosh. They dedicated the song Genius to Mitch (Manager of The Prince) – especially with how the new band room looks (it’s seriously looking good) and Whalley grabbed someone’s phone and dacked it before handing it back… nice and warm.
Of course, they played Bunbury and, as expected, it went off. Shoes were flying everywhere, some guy tried to steal the mic from Whalley and was dragged off stage and the pit was insane. They finished their set with 5000 Cigarettes, When My Baby Smiles At Me, You Can’t Move Into My House (which some guy almost ruined for everyone), Never Had So Much Fun and Punch In The Face.
Once again, another brilliant night at The Prince was had by all. Now to just impatiently await their return.
KAREN LOWE
Photos by Klowe Photography
