Live Review: Violent Soho, DZ Deathrays, Dune Rats, The Gooch Palms

The Perth leg of Violent Soho's WACO tour at Northbridge's Metro City venue was sweaty, steamy and intense. There is a line which separates shows from being great and being absolutely, tenaciously enjoyable; Violent Soho's show certainly fell into the second category two, if not three times over. They were supported by stellar bands The Gooch Palms, Dune Rats and the DZ Deathrays; each set amounted and contributed to a large powder keg of rock vitriol, with the punters lapping it up and needlessly waiting for Violent Soho to the light the fuse and set it off.

The Gooch Palms opened the door for an old school surf-rock sound to invade the venue, harkening back to the older days of rock'n'roll and evoking a sense of nostalgia upon the crowd. With the half screamy vocals of lead singer Leroy Macqueen giving off a serious '80s vibe through sound and fashion, the band cracked open the night with class and rigour. By the time Dune Rats had headed on to the stage, the front row had coalesced and condensed into a wild, sweaty mosh pit. In an act of great kindness, the band threw out free beers to the crowd, advocating some distorted idea of punk-infused alcoholically induced humanitarianism. Further fuelling the festivities with wildly punkish tracks, they left a memorable impression upon the chaotic moshpit before them.

DZ Deathrays kept up the rock'n'roll angst, bursting out the guitar-laden tunes with angsty vocals and a classic progressive rock sound. Maintaining a heady presence on stage, the crowd screamed wildly in adulation, screaming harder when the band addressed them, like some punk Obama. There was a healthy dose of tension in the lead-up to Violent Soho's set, with various crews setting up a bright, white curtain to drape over the stage, enhancing the reveal when Violent Soho emerged. Smashing out tracks like Viceroy and So Sentimental, the catchy guitar riffs combined with lead singer Luke Boerdam's raspy, angry vocals made for a quality set, with plenty of crowdsurfing happening in the front row; it was a chaotic and menacing spectacle. The band ticked the box of what a grunge set should be, finishing off with the loud, explosive choruses of Covered In Chrome. If you weren't covered in a impervious layer of stale beer and sweat at the end of the night, you weren't grunging right.