Project Description
Dune Rats +
WAVVES +
Hockey Dad +
WAAX
@ The Big Top, Sydney
(01/10/2017)
[Live Review].
.
.
Aussie punk rock three-piece Dune Rats brought there ‘Fuck Yeah Ledge Yew’ tour to Sydney on October 1st, bringing along surf rock powerhouse WAVVES (US), the NSW south-coast duo Hockey Dad and Brisbane indie punk band WAAX. After touring with SKEGSS and The Gooch Palms more or less non-stop after the release of their ARIA #1 second album The Kids Will Know Its Bullshit, it was surprising to see another tour so soon after. There seems to be a pattern with Brisbane bands getting ARIA #1 albums, announcing epic album tours and then following it up with another later in the year (I’m looking at you, Violent Soho).
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
WAAX got the ball rolling with a tidy set, while the crowd really got moving when Hockey Dad hit the stage. Hockey Dad are always amazingly fun to see live, but after every performance of theirs I think the same thing, it sometimes sounds a little empty on-stage, needing an extra guitar or a bass to fill the gap. Nevertheless, Hockey Dad were brilliant, with hundreds of sweaty bodies leaving the mosh and then rushed back in the moment WAVVES came on. Getting the ball rolling with Way Too Much, the crowd for WAVVES just seemed to never stop moving, making the crowd into a human equivalent of their namesake. If you ever get the chance to see WAVVES I highly recommend taking the chance to see them, their music is perfect for dancing, moshing and just letting go, especially when it sounds even better performed live than on their records.
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
The main event, Dune Rats, came on stage at 9:20, after a short video of the band backstage, talking smack and just being the funny dudes they are, arriving in blazers, shirt and tie and board shorts, exploding into Demolition Derby. They followed up with 6-Pack, a song about two brothers sharing a 6-pack to escape their parents fighting, growing up and then craving youth again, then smashing out Superman from their debut self-titled album. The moment Dune Rats hit the stage, stage techs began blowing up enormous cans of the legendary brew, Young Henry’s Dunies Lager, for the crowd to beachball.
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
Dune Rats continued their set with one of the singles from their second album, Scott Green, a song about a day the band spent in Walmart in California trying to find marijuana, then smashing out Red Light, Green Light from the debut. The crowd was boisterous throughout, seeming to never stop moving, even between songs. They continued with Never Gonna Get High before SKEGSS hit the stage with Dune Rats to perform New York California. After this, absolute legend Trials from Aussie hip-hip duo A.B. Original hit the stage to perform a cover of Where’s Your Head At? It was an insane ten minutes, to see two of Australia’s best emerging artists up on stage with Dune Rats.
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
The hour-long headline set closed with Funny Guy and Bullshit, the entire crowd screaming the words along. After a brief break the boys came back to do an encore, finishing up with Dalai Lama, Big Banana, Marijuana to raucous applause. Dune Rats have built a reputation, through seemingly endless tours, of being one of Australia’s loosest and most exciting bands to see live, never missing a beat or failing to make the crowd laugh.
.
DUNE RATS . photo – Nathan Barwick
.
A Dune Rats live gig always promises to be a bastion of barely controlled chaos, bodies flying into each other in the moshpit, while guitar riffs fill the hall. Its an atmosphere you can’t help but lose yourself in.
.
DUNE RATS . photo – Nathan Barwick
.
When it comes to Dune Rats, there is one thing this writer respects more than anything else; their willingness to include up and coming artists in their tours and shows, or whether its a just a shout out, the band and their label, Ratbag Records, are at the forefront of promoting Australian rock, punk, surf and garage, and have helped many bands achieve domestic success.
.
Check out Nathan Barwick’s gallery of this show HERE
.
FOLLOW DUNE RATS
OFFICIALWEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBE
.
.
AMNPLIFY – DB
[Live Review]
.
.
.
Aussie punk rock three-piece Dune Rats brought there ‘Fuck Yeah Ledge Yew’ tour to Sydney on October 1st, bringing along surf rock powerhouse WAVVES (US), the NSW south-coast duo Hockey Dad and Brisbane indie punk band WAAX. After touring with SKEGSS and The Gooch Palms more or less non-stop after the release of their ARIA #1 second album The Kids Will Know Its Bullshit, it was surprising to see another tour so soon after. There seems to be a pattern with Brisbane bands getting ARIA #1 albums, announcing epic album tours and then following it up with another later in the year (I’m looking at you, Violent Soho).
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
WAAX got the ball rolling with a tidy set, while the crowd really got moving when Hockey Dad hit the stage. Hockey Dad are always amazingly fun to see live, but after every performance of theirs I think the same thing, it sometimes sounds a little empty on-stage, needing an extra guitar or a bass to fill the gap. Nevertheless, Hockey Dad were brilliant, with hundreds of sweaty bodies leaving the mosh and then rushed back in the moment WAVVES came on. Getting the ball rolling with Way Too Much, the crowd for WAVVES just seemed to never stop moving, making the crowd into a human equivalent of their namesake. If you ever get the chance to see WAVVES I highly recommend taking the chance to see them, their music is perfect for dancing, moshing and just letting go, especially when it sounds even better performed live than on their records.
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
The main event, Dune Rats, came on stage at 9:20, after a short video of the band backstage, talking smack and just being the funny dudes they are, arriving in blazers, shirt and tie and board shorts, exploding into Demolition Derby. They followed up with 6-Pack, a song about two brothers sharing a 6-pack to escape their parents fighting, growing up and then craving youth again, then smashing out Superman from their debut self-titled album. The moment Dune Rats hit the stage, stage techs began blowing up enormous cans of the legendary brew, Young Henry’s Dunies Lager, for the crowd to beachball.
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
Dune Rats continued their set with one of the singles from their second album, Scott Green, a song about a day the band spent in Walmart in California trying to find marijuana, then smashing out Red Light, Green Light from the debut. The crowd was boisterous throughout, seeming to never stop moving, even between songs. They continued with Never Gonna Get High before SKEGSS hit the stage with Dune Rats to perform New York California. After this, absolute legend Trials from Aussie hip-hip duo A.B. Original hit the stage to perform a cover of Where’s Your Head At? It was an insane ten minutes, to see two of Australia’s best emerging artists up on stage with Dune Rats.
.
DUNE RATS . photo Nathan Barwick
.
The hour-long headline set closed with Funny Guy and Bullshit, the entire crowd screaming the words along. After a brief break the boys came back to do an encore, finishing up with Dalai Lama, Big Banana, Marijuana to raucous applause. Dune Rats have built a reputation, through seemingly endless tours, of being one of Australia’s loosest and most exciting bands to see live, never missing a beat or failing to make the crowd laugh.
.
DUNE RATS . photo – Nathan Barwick
.
A Dune Rats live gig always promises to be a bastion of barely controlled chaos, bodies flying into each other in the moshpit, while guitar riffs fill the hall. Its an atmosphere you can’t help but lose yourself in.
.
DUNE RATS . photo – Nathan Barwick
.
When it comes to Dune Rats, there is one thing this writer respects more than anything else; their willingness to include up and coming artists in their tours and shows, or whether its a just a shout out, the band and their label, Ratbag Records, are at the forefront of promoting Australian rock, punk, surf and garage, and have helped many bands achieve domestic success.
.
Check out Nathan Barwick’s gallery of this show HERE
.
FOLLOW DUNE RATS
OFFICIALWEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SOUNDCLOUD | YOUTUBE
.
.
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