Live Review: Violent Soho, Ceres, Black Diety

As the bleary-eyed and bucket-hatted throngs file into the sold out King’s Beach Tavern, Brisbane’s Black Deity kick things off, the rollicking stoner-rock outfit getting things rolling with lots of loud, heavy jams while the crowd waiting for their drinks at the bar nod their heads back and forth appreciatively. With notes of the vintage fuzz of Saint Vitus and Pentagram, the outfit is definitely one to watch.

Melbourne’s Ceres are up next, and the room really responds to the earnest pop-punk tunes that sound filtered through a mid-to-late ‘90s rock sound. It’s hard to envisage being so impressed with a band that reminds you of Fuel, but here Ceres are.

Violent Soho have garnered a dedicated legion of fans with Hungry Ghost. And rightly so; it’s an album that will probably be remembered as a cultural landmark for a generation of stoners, skaters and rock pigs. Sure they’ve just about toured the legs off the thing – vocalist Luke Boerdam is all but completely drowned out when he tries to sing opener, Dope Calypso – but the particularly rabid crowd at the Kings Beach Tavern are evincing no signs of fatigue with the material. Each new cut from the four-piece is met with an overwhelmingly rapturous reception. Even the album’s less bombastic cuts, like Fur Eyes and Gold Coast, are greeted with massive fanfare.

The reception the material gets makes it no surprise, despite the amount the band has toured the album, that Violent Soho still seem keen to play the bulk of their set from Hungry Ghost. It’s a shame that older cuts like Bombs Over Broadway and Jesus Stole My Girlfriend are skipped over for the band to elongate OK Cathedral.

The band does deviate a bit from Hungry Ghost though. When they do, it goes over excellently. It’s a treat to hear Muscle Junkie, as well as Tinderbox and Neighbour Neighbour. But these non-Hungry Ghost cuts have nothing on the big numbers from the albums. Covered In Chrome is practically a religious experience for the hordes of drunk and sweaty punters. Well, a religious experience for people adorned in merch making prominent use of upside down crosses. The crowd loves it; from the first notes the outside smoking section clears as fans jostle through the door into the main room to sing, or at least scream at the top of their lungs, “HELL FUCK YEAH” at the appropriate times. 

Tonight exemplifies the stellar run Violent Soho have enjoyed on the back of Hungry Ghost and, as they prepare to take a break from the road and write a follow-up to their breakthrough record, there’s a legion of fans waiting to see what the four-piece will do next.