Live Review: Strung Out, Dan Cribb & The Isolated, Freak Vibe

Perth's newest live venue, Hell Hole, played host to its first international artist on Saturday night, and the crowd showed up in force. Set up by surf/skate scene renaissance man Justin Ward and the Soggybones crew, the gig demonstrated that beer, sausage sizzles and Hall of Fame punk rock bands go hand-in-hand.

Support acts Freak Vibe and Dan Cribb & The Isolated warmed the crowd on the chilly winter's night — the combination of anarchistic throwback and pop-punk respectively ticking a combination of boxes for the theme of the night.

Comfortably located on the Mount Rushmore of greatest '90s/'00s era punk bands, Californian heavyweights Strung Out embarked to celebrate the 1996 release Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues. The breakout album blew the door open for a generation of young west Aussies, providing a soundtrack to a key formative period — free of mobile phones, social media and the Kardashians.

Kicking off with the classic bass rumble of Firecracker, the band steadily progressed through the album start to finish, hitting the mark with CD-quality tightness and live band-quality face-meltingness. Better Days inspired the first frantic moshpit of the night, with a little crowd-surfing, beer-milling and just enough action to keep the old boys happy. Gear Box probably got the biggest cheer from a town that has always loved their fast punk. Bring Out Your Dead and Speed Ball got the juices flowing.

Great to see a huge band hitting small towns on the way into a city, with multiple tour shirts on show for the repeat customers.