Skegss @ Capitol
w/ Verge Collection, Good Doogs
Friday, June 30, 2017
Touring the country to play their new EP Holiday Food and drink beers (their words), Skegss impressed as always with their live performance at Capitol on Friday, backed by local Perth bands Good Doogs and Verge Collection.
Skegss play loud, loose gigs. The room began to fill quickly from the moment the doors were opened, with the familiar crowd consisting of long hair, 5 panel hats and denim jackets (not a bad thing). Capitol is a small, tight venue that can make a crowd of 50 feel like 500, so by the time Good Doogs came onstage to open the night at around 8pm, a decent crowd was awaiting them. The relatively unknown three piece group did an excellent job of getting the early birds pumping with plenty of good tunes. At one point, they asked if they could borrow a drummer from the audience, which led to a fan climbing onto the stage and then being forcefully removed from the stage by security, always a surefire way to fire up a crowd. “What a legend,” was the bands response.
I always find it impressive that 3 piece groups such as Good Doogs can sound so groovy with one guitar, one bass and a drum set. These guys are a talented group, and backing bands such as Skegss will only help them get a foothold in the local scene and gain a solid following.
Next was well-known locals Verge Collection, who are preparing for their For The Story nationwide tour this August. Their music is a little more chilled than Skegss and Good Doogs, but they seemed to ‘heavy up’ their more chilled numbers to cater to the crowd on the night. New single For The Story was very well received.
Problems arose with the 35-40 minute gap between The Verge Collection and Skegss. Verge Collection finished at around 9:30pm and the gap caused the already intoxicated and primed crowd to get a little bored and some rather large brawls broke out towards the stage that involved a considerable amount of people. It took the staff a few minutes to actually stop the fighting. For some, brawling at a rock gig can enhance the experience but for most it simply mars it. The gap should have been shorter.
The off stage action didn’t seem to ruin the vibes of too many however, as Skegss entered the stage around 10:10pm to a loud reception, opening with My Face, an older tune, before diving into the new numbers from the Holiday Food EP. You Probably Wont Die for a While is a happy, upbeat tune that has summer vibes all over it.
What Skegss do very well is engage with their audience in the right way. They keep it talkative enough to have a good connection with the audience, but don’t overdo it and make it corny. The crowd certainly took advantage of Skegss laid back nature, with many fans running around to the side of the stage, jumping onto it and then leaping off into the crowd. It may have given the staff a hard time, but it was great, a proper rock n roll gig.
Old classic Wake The Fuck Up raised the roof. The simple indie rock tune is a fan favourite, which really goes to show that sometimes keeping it simple can be the best way to go when songwriting. The crowd loved it and broke out chanting “Skegss! Skegss! Skegss!” afterwards. Soaking It All In from the new EP was very well received, it’s a great, punky track but you could tell that a lot of the audience didn’t know the song well yet, which is why it makes sense to litter classics in between the new songs to keep it familiar for the not-so-hardcore fans of Skegss.
No Future from the new EP was possibly the song they performed best on the night. It’s a little heavier and darker than their previous numbers, but it’s a very well written song. I can see it becoming a classic for them once audiences know it well enough. New York California, a song “about fuck all” as confessed by the band, started pandemonium. Crowd surfing and stage diving went off the charts for a song that repeats the same two lines of lyrics throughout the songs entirety. If it works, it works.
Towards the pointy end of the gig came fan favourite Got on My Skateboard, with a killer riff and mellow vocals, it’s perhaps the most ‘different’ song by Skegss, possibly the reason fans love it so much. But to close the set, it was always going to be L.S.D and Spring Has Sprung. Spring Has Sprung, easily the best song from the Holiday Food EP, was an excellent way to end the gig and left fans happy (and sweating through those denim jackets). The boys vanished off stage straight after the final song, with some of the audience lingering around waiting for an encore, which didn’t happen. Hats off to Skegss for that, I’ve never understood the need for a predictable encore.
What I loved most about this gig was that it was really about the music. There were no big sentimental moments where the band stopped to talk to the audience, or talk about their lives and what the next song means. They flirted with the audience here and there, but they kept it about the music, and it flowed excellently. There was a great atmosphere for most of the evening and Skegss nailed it, as always. Despite the unsavory events between Verge Collection and Skegss, it was an excellent gig and I’m hungry for more.
CALLUM SYNNOTT
Photos by Paul Dowd Photography
