Live Review: Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, Private Function

After Richmond's roaring (yep, there's a pun in the first sentence) victory in last weekend's Grand Final and the jubilant celebrations that followed, Swan Street seems rather sedate tonight in comparison. That is, until entering Corner Hotel. Melbourne punks Private Function play a loud, perfectly chaotic and surprisingly catchy set. With song titles like Burn My Boots and Spontaneous Combustion, they're all gut-rumbling bass and machine-gun drums, and their stage presence is always teetering a half inch away from some sort of head trauma. In the spirit of the night, they put in a pretty impressive cover of Sweet's Fox On The Run, which is well-received by the ever-arriving swell of punters. They finish up with Dial Before You Dig, introduced as being about "accidentally killing someone then burying them in your backyard and hitting a sewerage pipe and getting covered in your own shit". As the song winds up, the lead vocalist joins the crowd, introduces the rest of the band, drops/throws the mic, then heads off for a beer. Private Function are about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the nuts and a reviewer's dream.

The room is at bursting capacity when Me First & The Gimme Gimmes arrive on stage in all of their satin-shirted splendour. The Living End's Chris Cheney, who was scheduled to stand in for Chris Shiflett on this tour, is himself replaced tonight due to illness. Thankfully, Lindsay McDougall (Frenzal Rhomb) has stepped in at the last minute and joins Spike Slawson (Uke-Hunt), Jay Bentley (Bad Religion), Dave Raun (Lagwagon), and Joey Cape (Lagwagon) for a madcap jaunt through a blistering set of covers.

Slawson swaggers across the stage wielding his gold-fringed mic and croons Sloop John B before launching into Cher's mega-hit Believe. Seeing five men from some of the most iconic punk bands of all time, and Frenzal Rhomb, belt out Believe with so much passion is more than worth the price of admission. It's a raucous, rollicking party from the jump. The front row is stuffed with super fans, and there are more NOFX shirts than you can poke a stick at.

"Paula Abdul choreographed all of Jerry's dance moves," cracks Slawson, referring to Cape who has been dubbed 'Jerry' for the night. Abdul's Straight Up somehow works better in the punk format than in its original pop incarnation. Bentley puts in some fancy footwork, both on bass and in general through dance skills during John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads.

Slawson is the consummate frontman, rarely has a grown man been so appealing while wielding a ukulele and singing Madonna. I Believe I Can Fly is a roof-ripper, the audience frothing and yelling along to every word with utter conviction. "Vote yes by the way because you're good people," urges Slawson, weighing into the current same sex marriage debate before segueing into Barry Manilow's Mandy. All silliness aside, Slawson's voice is magnificent.

"Unfortunately Fat Mike couldn't be here tonight. He's too busy taking a bath in your money," cracks the singer, while McDougall thanks Cheney's stomach for getting him the gig. They close the set with Rocket Man and Bentley offers a wobbly curtsy by way of thanks. Slawson returns for an encore, playing Xanadu accompanied by a smiley Cape on skull-shaker. Many in the crowd receive Xanadu as more of a Xanadon't, but those who love it really, really love it. Sweet Caroline is a more popular choice and sees one unfortunate crowd-surfer cartwheel directly onto the metal barrier. It's been a brilliant, hilarious and joyous evening so far with no sign of letting up. Of the hundreds of gigs this reviewer has attended, never has a band seemed to genuinely enjoy playing together as much as Me First & The Gimme Gimmes do tonight.

As the band wrap up, the party atmosphere that has enveloped the audience so far continues into the front bar and well into the night. In a whirl of beers and band T-shirts, punters perform their own covers of the punk tunes playing over the speakers. Me First & The Gimme Gimmes would be proud.