The Hard AchesIt's a busy night in the Fortitude Valley precinct, and there are hundreds of people already milling about as the night begins. There's a lot happening tonight, but here we'll focus on one particular venue, where Adelaide heart throbs The Hard Aches are gearing up for the Brisbane stop on their I Freak Out tour.
Opening the night for them are local party felines and big fans YELLOWCATREDCAT. The duo start out with an energetic number, obviously excited to be playing with one of their favourite bands, and one that has definitely influenced them over the years. Frontman Isaac Rogers is full of spontaneity, and exudes a charming balance of awkwardness and nonchalance as he sings to the small crowd of friends and other bands. They bust out fan favourite Spiders and latest single STARS, and you can see the sweat start to build up on both Rogers and drummer Adam Head as they deliver a highly energetic set that has every member of the audience moving. They finish off with a cover of Bluejuice's 2007 hit Vitriol that has everyone jumping and eager for more.
The second band on this fantastic line-up tonight are The Strums, a three-piece punk-rock collective also from Brisbane. At one point The Strums illegally commandeered office space to use for their jam room and they're using the same principle here — any fan that may have come for the other bands have now been snatched away to their unique brand of punchy, garage-style rock'n'roll. They punch out a few energetic numbers and blow us all away with the amount of noise only three people can make, as well as their relentless energy, which just pours off the stage and into everyone watching.
After The Strums have barely left the stage, on run tour buddies and best friends FOLEY!. They're a three-piece skate/punk band from Melbourne, and they are almost exploding with excitement as the crowd presses tightly against the barricade during their first few songs. They're an incredibly honest band, with emotionally fuelled lyrics, a captivating stage presence, and a punk-rock attitude. You can hear in almost every single song the strong influences they take from The Front Bottoms and fellow Melburnians The Smith Street Band.
Finally, the band that everyone has been waiting for takes to the stage after an agonising few minutes of preparation. The Hard Aches have been touring around Australia the last few weeks for their new EP I Freak Out, even playing at Yours & Owls festival in Wollongong last weekend. The EP itself is a six-song roller-coaster of emotions that we have come to know and love from the Adelaide two-piece, and it features their latest cult single Glad That You're Gone. The energy from the previous three acts still lingers as frontman Ben David owns the entire stage, belting his heart (and lungs) out to an almost rabid audience. People are crowd-surfing onto the stage and even being crushed against the Crowbar's low ceiling, and security is standing by as the mass of bodies threaten to push over the barricade. As each song starts, there's dozens of people screaming the words, with David sometimes pausing to let the crowd sing for him.
While The Hard Aches might certainly have a cult following of fans, they are certainly a band this writer would pay money to see again and again, as the very atmosphere of any of their shows is enough to warrant a phenomenal time, let alone partnered with the raw, unrelenting talent they simply exude.
