Violent Soho @ The Gov, 4th July ’14
Violent Soho is on the crest of a massive wave that doesn’t look like breaking any time soon.
Each tour gets bigger in size and it is to no surprise that their entire Australian tour is completely sold out. Adelaide was the first of two sold out shows at The Gov separated by nearly two weeks and boy did they set the bar high for their return visit. It was jammed packed, I don’t think I’ve seen so many people squeezed inside The Gov.
The Smith Street Band was awesome and didn’t put a foot wrong making the most of this golden support slot. It almost seemed that they were playing to their crowd not Violent Soho’s with the crowd finding plenty of voice and inclination to crowd surf which isn’t something you normally see at The Gov. Front man Wil Wagner put everything in to this performance and he got plenty back from the crowd. There is no doubt that they’ll be playing to a sold out Governor Hindmarsh when they return for their own album tour later in the year.
No one can really down play the importance of Triple J air play as this has been an important avenue in spreading the word about this mighty band. As soon as the band took to the stage it sent a few in to hyper drive after hearing the opening chords of Dope Calypso. Wow! I’m standing back in awe of these guys and full of admiration as they grab this show by the jugular. Not having seen these guys before it is easy to see the influence of The Pixies, Mudhoney and Nirvana. Hearing the crowd yell back “Nothing’s Gonna Save Us” was really something and this was only the first song. Crikey Moses!
Keeping the intensity and energy going it was Lowbrow that followed with the crowd showing their appreciation for this favourite off Hungry Ghost. Eat Your Parents was great as was single Tinderbox. The band opted to let the music do the talking rather than pad out the set with pointless banter. Neighbour Neighbour was rockin’ it to the max before ‘slowing’ it down a tad on Fur Eyes. Saramona Said is one of my favourites and it was awesome to see the massive crowd clap leading in to the song. The intensity never wavered as these lads play like seasoned campaigner and every song off Hungry Ghost is an anthem in its own right with songs like In The Aisle and Liars just about unbeatable topped off by greatness Jesus Stole My Girlfriend and Love Is A Heavy Word off their self titled release.
Front man Luke Boerdam was full of admiration for Adelaide’s best export Julia Gillard but wasn’t so full of praise for Prime Minister Tony Abbott dropping the c-bomb serving as the perfect intro to Covered In Chrome sending the crowd nuts. What a song! The band was supportive of Adelaide’s weed culture passing a spliff around echoing the sentiment “together we have the power of the weed culture!” Finishing the set off with Eightfold it seemed like that was the end with some punters leaving not realising the band was returning for an encore. The band finished with Muscle Junkie which was absolutely brilliant and those who didn’t get tickets will rue that decision – beg, borrow, sneak in, jump fences, pretend to be a roadie – don’t miss this tour!
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
- Aversions Crown - January 27, 2017
- Sick Of It All - January 19, 2017
- Refused - January 11, 2017
