Live Review: The Saints, The Volcanics

Punk rock veterans braved the slight chill of last Friday night to catch The Saints play a sold-out show at the Fly By Night in Fremantle in support of their new album King Of The Sun. First up and dressed in all-black attire, local quartet The Volcanics got the crowd riled up with a heavy dose of wailing, high energy rock'n'roll. While most of the audience tried to avoid the dancefloor during, one brave punter threw caution to the wind and pogo'd his ass off for most of their set. Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication he was grabbed by security, leading singer John Phatouros jumping off stage to defend him. The grateful fan was eventually let back in to a huge cheer from the crowd and band.

Shortly after, The Saints arrived onstage to the tune of Britney Spears' Toxic, throwing the first of many curve balls to the audience. Frontman Chris Bailey strapped on a bass guitar and crooned over classics Follow the Leader and A Million Miles Away in his trademark growl. Longtime drummer Peter Wilkinson displayed some powerful, fluid drumming, most notably on Waiting for God (Oh!), while new bandmates Andy Judd and ex-Thirsty Merc guitarist Sean Carey on the other hand had the songs down but lacked the feel and energy required for a lot of the material.

After extended jams on Simple Love and Spit The Blues Out, the band left the stage with Bailey strapping on an acoustic guitar and banging out encores Photograph and Messin' With The Kid. They returned for a great version of Ghost Ships and a not-so-great version of Know Your Product that saw Bailey flubbing the words as the band tried to pull off the classic punk vibe which ultimately just sounded rushed. While the frontman was in good form and his songwriting as always speaks for itself, it was evident from the performance that The Saints are not the band they used to be, and hopefully Bailey realises this and drops the name sooner rather than later.