Pat ChowWhat happens when you walk down the Oxford Art’s steps and turn left? Tonight we would find out as we turned our back on the sold-out main room and dove into the Gallery Bar for a night of punk, rock and fun.
Rocking female four-piece, Bandintexas started proceedings with a blitzing set of indie rock complete with excellent banter from lead singer, Kelly Jeanious, and impressive headstands from the audience.
Rick Dangerous & The Silkie Bantams have to be seen to be appreciated. All-white suits, comedic interludes and amazingly tight and metal-inspired riffs made this Sutherland band one of the highlights of the night.
A couple of WA bands have been making their way around the country with SBF. Pat Chow gave us a solid set of punk-inspired shoe-gazing rock, while FOAM rocked it up with tight, rock-hard punk hits. If we were getting a bit sleepy, they certainly warmed us up for the main act!
Super Best Friends dove straight into the lead track from their debut album, Status Updates – Conscript kicked in and we remembered why we were here. The album is political and to the point and we screamed “We are not full” as Johnny Barrington and his trio smashed out Dog Whistling. One wishes this was being played in the main bar with its own sold-out crowd instead, but the compact crowd in the Gallery Bar gave it their all.
Gone is the keyboard of previous tours. SBF are now a solid block of guitar rock and screaming vocals. Barrington doesn’t hold back as he declares war on billionaires, bad nights out and mates that leave town. If punk-rock can be catchy, then this is it; you want to blurt out the lyrics and get as angry as them, but also dance and jump around with wild abandon.
Turning left can be very fun indeed and you should consider it next time you venture out to the OAF.
