Violent SohoTape/Off are unapologetic with their abrasiveness and thrash out a bunch of lo-fi buzz cuts to a quickly filling room. The guitars of yellow-shirted frontman Nathan Pickels and his staggering counterpart Luke Zahnleiter look like they're trying to get away from the guys throughout, the pair bending and jagging around the stage while the rhythm section of Branko Cosic and Brenton Maybury apply thick foundations underneath the top ends of the songs. By the time Pickels has finished abusing his axe, he's managed to snap every string running across the neck, and the stage has been suitably warmed by yet another exciting Brisbane alt-rock exponent.
The main support slot tonight is taken care of by Dune Rats, and although they aren't as loud or as capable with their instruments as the openers or the headliners, what the Brissie boys lack in playing precision they certainly make up for in charisma and hooks. With Sean Caskey from Last Dinosaurs manning the bass tonight, the trio have a deft ability to throw together infectious two-and-a-half minute surf pop nuggets with seemingly effortless ease, and the always surly pair of Danny Beusa and BC Michaels make it clear that the rider has well and truly been sunk. Color Television is the soundtrack to bombing hills on your skateboard, Wooo! celebrates the general vibe in the room admirably and a cover of Violent Femmes Blister In The Sun sits snugly among other popular Rats' jams such as Pogo. There's no denying the band sound messy as fuck, but to sit there and stroke your chin is to miss the point completely. Music is just an element of the live experience – it's more about getting loose with your mates, singing tunes with your drunken old man and taking a step away from reality, if only for a half hour.
Violent Soho have never had a problem getting a crowd in their hometown, but the rabid nature people are showing front of stage is a new twist and highlights the steep trajectory their popularity is currently climbing. The quartet take their places, offer a quick greeting, then bludgeon all and sundry with Love Is A Heavy Word, Luke Boerdam sounding like a man possessed as he tears his vocal box a new one. A crowdsurfer takes out the mic stand in what would be the first of many stage invasions during the set and guitarist James Tidswell does his very best to keep overzealous security at bay with some choice hair whips in the right direction. Luke Henery is just a sight to behold, the towering bass player throttling his four-string while smiling wide beneath his strewn black hair, and with Michael Richards pounding down on his kit, the crowd devour My Generation, Neighbour Neighbour and Muscle Car. Boerdam cops a mic in the teeth, but the band take the wild pit scenes in their stride, Tidswell even grabbing a punter's forgotten shoe a short while later before security help him exit stage left. Jesus Stole My Girlfriend then causes lighting to get ripped from the roof before the venue is brought to its knees with the mass singalong Tinderbox. And in 40 minutes, Violent Soho have made their intentions for 2013 clear. Be fucking prepared.
