Rumble Rock Wrestling (feat. Regurgitator) at the Arena

Rumble Rock is an annual event put on to raise funds to help keep local community radio station 4ZZZ up and running. This years event was held at the-venue-previously-known-as-a-megaclub-after-being-known-as-a-rock-arena, The Arena, and featured the heavy hitting entertainment of Pro Wrestling Aliance Queensland, the sexy but dangerous Northern Brisbane Roller girls, along with a selection of local bands (Undead Apes, Spirfireliar, JJ Speedball) and headlined by Regurgitator.

The format of the night was band, followed by wrestling, followed by band etc. The Arena hasn't changed much since I was last in there other than the gents bathroom sinks being given an upgrade. The same negatives still irk me; those damn pillars blocking the view of the stage and the roof of the gents toilet being at my shoulder height, and yet still I feel a warm welcoming nostalgia wash over me as I wander through the mingling early crowd. I'm surprised by how many hot looking 'rock chicks' are present at such a seemingly machismo event.

The first band Undead Apes kick off proceedings laying the foundations for the style of 4zzz punk rock music we'll be treated to for the rest of the night. Being a staple on the Zed airwaves, their song Taxes always brings a smile to my face when I hear the line "You think you’re bad like Michael Jackson, when really you’re just crap like Michael Jackson".

Then there is the wrestling. Not having experienced any rock n roll style wrestling in the flesh before I had feared that this might be a lame and cringeworthy affair. I couldn't have been more wrong, as it soon became apparent that this was going to be entertainment, hilarity and pain to the max!

First we had the introduction and trash talking of the players, with apt wrestling names such as Kelso Kahoniz, Niki Nitro and the Australian Wolverine. There are man mountains, hot lady wrestlers, and midgets all champing at the bit for a piece of the action. All 15 or so wrestlers are introduced as two separate teams (Team 4ZZZ vs Party Rock Nation) but this minor detail is soon lost and forgotten once the wrestlers are in the ring.

Having the wrestling ring take up half of the ground floor ensures the crowd are right amongst the action. Although there is a hip-high fence to keep people 'safe', such a minor hurdle is of no concern to professional wrestlers and on numerous occasions they end up doing their thing amongst the crowd, including taking it up the stairs to the top level to take advantage of the pointy cornered tables for eye gouges, as well as being able to throw their opponents off the second level balcony for that added impact! And yes that really did happen.

One wrestler flips another off the balcony taking out the crew below

Plenty of props for inflicting pain appeared throughout the night including a guitar, fold up chair, frying pan, ladder, trash can lid, thumb tacks.. and perhaps the most entertaining, a selection of dildos! One match featured a "Naughty but Nice" bag of tricks attached to the ring allowing wrestlers eye gouge each other with foot long dildos, bum gouge with a strap-on, or leather whip their opponent into submission. And don't forget the late-night-kebab to the face fatality manouevre!


The choregraphy and quality of the show was really well done with some of the wrestlers displaying a level of acrobatics and fitness worthy of an olympic gymnast. The presence of some very realistic looking blood also added to the charged atmosphere and the oohs and owws coming from the crowd, so much so that a nursing friend of mine was visibly distressed and asking me if this was for real and whether they'd have paramedics ringside. I assured her everything was fine :)
*UPDATE* Soo apparently the blood looked so authentic because it was, check the comment section below and this.

Flying (flaming?) piledriver!

The wrestling between bands worked nicely in keeping the crowd hyped and entertained. Not having seen Spitfireliar before, I enjoyed their set of heavy punk rock. They were followed by JJ Speedball complete with a topless dancer for their "song about boobs", before the headliner Regurgitator took to the stage.

It somehow seemed appropriate for the 'Gurge to close the night with their hard hitting yet often tongue-in-cheek styled tunes drawing parallels with the wrestling show we'd all just experienced. Coming on stage wearing mexican style wrestling masks the band played a high energy set giving the crowd what they wanted. The opening riff of "Track 1" saw the front of stage mosh kick to another level, and seguing into the dark and dirty bass line of "Pop Porn" for a verse was an act of genius. Other classics got an airing such as "I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am" and "Kong Foo Sing", and after returning to the stage for a deserved encore they finished the night with "Blubber Boy"... oh and did I mention the stage diving midget and crowd surfing sex doll? No? Well they were there too.

Sadly I forgot to take my camera so resorted to my crappy mobile phone for some video. So apologies for the poor sound but I figured it's worthy of posting just to get across how entertaining the night was. Here's the highlights of the wrestling along with a snippet of Regurgitator at the end, taken before I joined the masses in the mosh. Yes it was that kind of night.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t57YTwX5kP8

I look forward to Rumble Rock Wrestling 5 next year, be sure to get along!

Florence and the machine at Brisbane Riverstage May 26th 2012

I still recall sitting in the Down Under Bar one night after work in 2009 and hearing Dog Days Are Over for the first time. I asked my mate if he knew who it was and that's when I discovered Florence and the Machine. I made sure I got to see her at Shepherd's Bush when I travelled to London later that year and was impressed, despite the unenergetic sold out English crowd (not that that stopped my Aussie mate and me from cutting a rug).

I then saw her again at the Metro Theatre in Sydney which was quite a different experience with the crowd singing along to every song and the jumping energy during Dog Days almost shaking the venue to it's foundations.

The new album 'Ceremonials' was a bit of a mixed bag for me, with some songs generating anticipation of hearing them live on stage, whilst I felt others were a bit.. well boring. However I did find that her first album 'Lungs' was a long term grower so the same might be true for Ceremonials; time will tell. So without too much in the way of expectations I went along to the Riverstage to catch Flo' and the band for the third time.

We were still walking up the path through the botanical gardens when we heard the crowd cheering as Florence took the stage. So when we entered we found that front half of the Riverstage had been fenced off and security had stopped any more people from entering, thus relegating us to standing at the top of the hill behind 9000 other people. After a tip from a mate we managed to get a better position on the far left side along the half-way fence.

Flo looked as glamourous and hip as ever in her usual dynamic array of outfits. But there was something lacking for me, her performance didn't have the same sincerity I'd experienced the previous two times I'd seen her. I got the impression she was running on autopilot during some of the songs. Granted that it wasn't all like that but that was the overwhelming feeling I was left with by the end. The raucous screaming from the front few (seemingly younger) hundred people would suggest they were loving it, but that teeny bopper over-the-top idolising just grated with me making things worse.

The last two times I'd seen Florence and the Machine were in relatively more intimate theatres. I think something special in that environment is lost when the band move to such a large open air, overcrowded space. It definitely was for me.

On the plus side the sound was generally great and Flo's voice was on song (I've never heard it not, actually).

I was glad I got to hear Spectrum, and Seven Devils, two of my favorite songs off the new album. Before playing Spectrum, Florence told the crowd that the best dancer in the next song would get a kiss from their keyboardist. A humouorus moment was had when one girl down the front was obviously very keen causing Florence to exclaim "We got a topless chick, this is brilliant!".

My videos can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF570F85CC81609DF

The Trouble With Templeton at Black Bear Lodge, Thursday 24/05/2012

I can't recall exactly how I stumbled across The Trouble With Templeton but I think it may have been in a blog I read sometime in March about the top 20 local bands in Brisbane or something. Searching hasn't helped me track down that blog post so if anyone happens to know it then please leave a link in the comments. TTWT is singer/songwriter Thomas Calder. I think it was the comparison to Melbourne's Whitley that piqued my interest initially and after having a listen to his album "Bleeders" I was a fan.

Tonight Tom informs us they're very excited to be playing this, their first headline gig. "Tasty" Tom and his acoustic guitar is joined on stage by "Beautiful" Betty and "Handsome" Hugh; Betty on keys and haunting backup vox, and Hugh on electric guitar. By the time the band starts the venue is full and sitting punters fill the floor in front of the stage.

Right from the outset you can tell this is going to be a special performance. The delicate guitar tones coupled with the dynamic vocals and harmonies builds an atmosphere that matches the intimacy and comfort of the venue that is The Black Bear Lodge. Tom proceeds to sing, play and charm his way through the set and has the crowd in the palm of his hand. It appears the set is filled with plenty of songs from a yet-to-be-released album; however some tunes from the aformentioned "Bleeders" do get a look in such as the lyrically playful "I wrote a novel" and the beautifully powerful title track "Bleeders". I get the feeling I'll be looking back on this gig in years to come when Tom is popular and saying "I was there". Check him out if you get the chance.

Some of my videos here www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL935996F5DCC7798C