Live review: Regurgitator, Ouch My Face, Ausmuteants, Burnt Sausages. Prince Bandroom, 4th September
The last 22 years have been full of ups and downs. We’ve seen the human genome mapped, Breaking Bad, slap bracelets, economic stimulus packages and cat videos on-demand (aka The Internet). On the other hand, violent conflicts, Tony Abbott (just in general), the GFC and endless, back-to-back seasons of The Block have ravaged our world. Times are uncertain, but one constant we can all use as our guiding light, our true north, is the music and shenanigans of Regurgitator.
Touring in promotion of their latest release, Nothing Less Than Cheap Imitations, a 2012 live recording, ‘The Gurge’ remind us that the truest form of expression is that which doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still being able to communicate to a broad audience on a deep, personal and nostalgic level.
Opening the evening are Melbourne’s own Ausmuteants, whose energetic set starts to whip the already packed St Kilda crowd into a sweaty mess.
Taking the middle slot are the always awe-inspiring Ouch My Face. Tonight’s show is a special one as it’s the first show for new bass player Liz Thomas (who nails it), stepping in for Regurgitator’s own Ben Ely, presumably so he has time to get in costume (more on that later).
Celeste Potter’s stage presence is a marvel to witness. Between songs she is sweet, shy, almost uncomfortable with the spotlight. But when she launches into a song she is a demon sent to earth to kick people’s arses. Their set is full of harsh, angular, unrelenting yet catchy and danceable punk and experimental rock and the crowd lap it up.
The break between this set and Regurgitator’s seemed to go on for an eternity. Luckily enough the crowd erupted into an all-in sing along of Foreigner’s ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ to let Regurgitator know that they were ready.
5 minutes later The Gurge responded, bursting onto stage adorned with shiny silver and gold capes, launching frenziedly into ‘Blood and Spunk’ followed immediately by one of their earliest signature rap-rock tunes ‘Track 1’.
Audience participation was featured heavily during classic ‘I Will Lick Your Arsehole’, with the crowd emotionally belting the refrain back at front man Quan Yeomans, causing a smile to creep across the entire width of his face. 900 people screaming that will do that to you.
[include_post id=”456820″] What followed was a veritable feast of nostalgic Aussie party tunes. ‘Everyday Formula’, ‘Black Bugs’ (which ended in a beautiful rendition of Guns N Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O Mine’), ‘I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am’, ‘Pop Porn’, ‘Polyester Girl’, ‘Blubber Boy’, the list literally went on. You don’t realize exactly how many hits Regurgitator have until you hear them all in one go, expecting the show to finish only to have them launch into another track you once taped off the radio for ‘safe keeping’.
After all of these 22 years, Regurgitator also haven’t lost the boyish energy and humour that comes across so well in their music. They bounce around the stage and make dick jokes as well as they ever have.
Towards the end of the set the crowd were treated to ‘My Friend Robot’, ‘Fat Cop’ and ‘Kong Foo Sing’ before Regurgitator left the stage… for another costume change!
After waiting a good 10 minutes, three sausages bound onto the stage. This was a rare appearance by Melbourne’s own BBQ-Punk outfit The Burnt Sausages. Dancing along to Regurgitator’s ‘Astronaut Barbecue Party’, they were soon joined by Quan, dressed as a giant pair of tongs and Ben Ely, dressed as a piece of bread. Utter barbecue insanity ensued for a few minutes until Regurgitator said farewell to The Burnt Sausages and the crowd with set closer ‘! (The Song Formerly Known As)’.
At the end of the night, Regurgitator’s place in Australian music history was further solidified as the exhausted crowd walked away thinking three things, ‘F*&k Regurgitator are good!’, ‘Gee I miss Recovery’ and ‘I think I’ll go to Bunnings for a snag tomorrow’.
