Words by Stephen Shelverton
Photography by Elizabeth Sharpe | @ummagummamumma
I love the Gurge, and I didn’t just stop loving them at the peak late nineties early noughties, I love them on a daily basis. In 2023, they toured with the best band in Australia (DZ Deathrays) and in 2024, they brought out ‘Invader’, which sits in my top 3 of 5 red hot albums for the year.
Loyalty to the geek punk ultra lords runs deep in GCL, hence the crew arrived en-mass to sweat it out at the Hotter Than Hell event at the alternate venue of Nudgee Beach Hotel. We slipped, we slopped we slapped or to quote Bad// Dreems we touted “Bring on that Northern tropical sun, bake my skin like brisket in a Weber Q.” as we persevered through it.
I joined DAD FIGHT band members on the barrier early to cheer on the hardest working and most loved drummer in Brisbane on tour with The Bennies; Sam Faulkner. His appearance heralded the charge of a few “Milton mangos-ice cold, fourex gold” (Dad Fight reference). Sam is the stereotypical percussionist in more bands than he can count in a prolonged drum roll, including; Dad Fight, Boof Heads, Che Burns, and the odd emergency fill-in for Radium Dolls – The Bennies have struck it lucky with him on the team.
Anty Horgan (lead vox / synth) repeated theme today was to remind us (punters and artists) of who the greatest band in the world is, it’s a bunch of peace-lovin’ pacifists called The Bennies. The catchcry I use to explain The Bennies is they spell FUN in six different languages, while simply being the best a happy ska mosh can demand. What better way to prove that than lay down tracks like Detroit Rocks Ciggies, Legalise (But Don’t Tax), and the equivalent of a 90’s Midori Illusion in a shaker – Let’s Have A Party.
A couple of heavier tracks from the self-confessed psychedelic reggae ska doom-metal punk rock from hell crew, backed that statement up by throwing in an ode to Slayer and unreleased tracks H.O.U.N.D.S and Pill To Swallow. Party anthem, Party Machine ripped faster than a bucket bong on a mud flat.
Please don’t go Bennies, ah well, perhaps we shall all have to go and eat free chicken wings (no joke if you are there before 7pm) at Brew Dog Fortitude Valley on Sat, 23 November.
Seering QLD heat be damned, Katy Steele was determinedly glam in a mohair jacket, looking cooler than an Iced VoVo in a Kelvinator doing so. Stunning the audience and serenading them with Beautiful To Me. It was a refreshing window of opportunity, eliminating any trace of the scorching heat, as Little Birdy whisked us away on a breezy flashback to the song that fluttered around every nook and cranny in bougie bars of 2004, providing a cool relief in 2024.
The crowd swayed, soaking up the nostalgia as Little Birdy rolled out a tightly woven set that felt like both a time capsule and a testament to their imprint on the Australian music scene. The grown men that were thrashing around in The Bennies pit moments before were now lolling gently, singing the high notes in unison with Katy.
They slipped into Relapse and Katy, ever the enigmatic frontwoman, spun each lyric with raw emotion, grounding the familiar melodies in fresh, resonant depth – she takes a moment to tell us all that sometimes it feels weird to be singing these songs, written in her late teens, now as an adult.
Jokes about the band’s age were inevitable, but Katy’s voice cut through them—timeless, ethereal, and as powerful as ever, defying the years with an undiminished edge.
By the time they got to Close To You, it was clear Little Birdy still knew exactly how to wrap an audience around their finger. With hearts full and skin slightly pink by this stage (Look, it’s worth it! It’s for the sake of live music!), we all knew we were witnessing something beautiful on this blistering QLD day.
They leaned into their more introspective side to round out the set, unfurling the haunting Andy Warhol in a performance that felt part lullaby, part confessional. It may have been 14 years since they last played together as a band, but I, for one, hope that this welcomed comeback was all the encouragement they needed to get back out there and give their fans some headline shows… and maybe some new music too!
I copped a fair bit of flack over admitting to breaking my Grinspoon cherry this year, I feel the same rules will apply to another core 90’s Aus indie rock elite; Jebediah. Ahhh, get over it! I’m still finding new acts weekly and not religiously rewinding tracks that shaped my teen years in the 90’s, while supporting new live Aus music daily, are you? Besides, it was fucking awesome to see Jebediah finally.
Kevin Mitchell (lead vox, guitar) fought the sound gremlins at the start and exclaimed, “we will play ‘Slightly Odway’ start to finish…It’s an album that’s been out for 100 years now,” (was this said in jest or in protest?).
I would have been more than OK to have heard a morsel of the 2024 album; OIKS scintillating new Tracks; Gum up the Bearings, Motivation, IWANAGETOUT, and The Slip that has this lo-fi fuzz that hits pretty bloody solid. However, the Hotter Than Hell Y2K-centric theme seemed to demand the 90s-00’s Hypesteria – hypestereo? (Did I just create a word? No, I created two!) and I feel this may have hamstrung their ability to share new material. (I’ll just have to see them at a headline show – see you there!)
Leaving Home, Benedict, and Harpoon were keenly anticipated by the crowd, and belted back in true form. Invaders is a personal favourite, and makes me wonder if the namesake influenced Gurge on the recent album title.
Anty stood side of stage with his trademark cheeky grin, loving it, awaiting his opportunity to encourage a shout-out to the greatest band in the world.
Kevin paused in preparation… “This next song is very fast and we are very old – drugs can fail!”- Blame. He wasn’t wrong, it was a hectic revolver shootout. After Kevin regained his breath he exclaimed that it was a pleasure to be in QLD again – “We’ve been touring QLD since just after the French Revolution in 1776!”
Lino seemed like the appropriate time for Vanessa Thornton, to wipe down the well-travelled P-Bass with a towel. Speaking of; best t-shirt of the day goes to Chris Daymond (guitar) for the 3 Amigos shirt.
Jebediah said goodbye in the adios track La Di Da Da, a song ideally fitted for a reminiscent farewell.
As the effects crew conducted maintenance checks, firing CO2 cannons and flame-balls to scorch eyebrows, the most animated and intense sound check occurred. I suppose Less Than Jake have got more horns than a crash of Rhinoceros, it’s gotta be tweaked sharp.
I started nice and close to the barrier, close enough to have the trombone slide over my head with the opener Last One Out of Liberty City from “The best trombone player in the band – Buddy ‘Goldfinger’ Schaub!”
I was rapidly shoved out of the way by tap-dancing hippopotami in the mosh, when Help Save The Youth of America From Exploding literally exploded, and I wasn’t even upset about it. As stated, ska moshes are my favourite type of mosh for a reason – with dancing, smiles and vomiting a rainbow of colour. Chris DeMakes wearing bright cobalt blue golf tartan pants, affirms this “I feel like I could fart into a paper bag and you’d love it at this stage, I did that on a plane from Adelaide!”
Less Than Jake were collectively the maestro conductor of this eclectic mosh; Buddy mouthed the intro to the much favoured All My Best Friends Are Metalheads. Chris informed us about Less Than Jake’s longevity “I have 2 divorces for this!” This was just before he had security escort a newly married couple (Cam and Terra) that left their wedding early to be at the show. The pair, still dressed in wedding outfits, were serenaded on stage with an impromptu Frank Sinatra – Love and Marriage, given a couple of Young Henrys to toast the occasion, all the while dancing on stage to Big Crash.
The Science of Selling Yourself Short reverberated from Nudgee to PNG, Chris tells us it’s become something of an informal national anthem there, as it wracks up 250 million hits on Spotify!
Anty joins on stage to the track written for them – The High Cost of Low Living. With spliff in hand, he again reminds us that The Bennies are the best band in the world. The Bennies drummer (Sam) flies across the stage to surf the mosh accompanied by a skull-masked figure.
The impressively amped set closed with a sample of Sunny Side, from the new album, due out November 15. Chris extends thanks and gratitude all ‘round and concludes with, “We’ve been coming here since last century…if you ever come to Florida, you are welcome to… Gainesville Rock City!”
As the Gurge set opened to Kong Foo Sing, a flying V formation of Ibis flew overhead. Love that uniquely Australiayeah symbolism.
My personal superstition is wearing a ‘Tu-Plang’ pin butted up against a 4ZZZ pin on my jacket. It’s my way of saying, “Punk doesn’t age, and it doesn’t rest either”. This is a likewise interpretation of the matured beauty of the spunk-dripping exquisiteness of the 2024 Regurgitator album, ‘Invader’.
It is, therefore a personal rejoice hearing 35 % of the setlist consisting of new tracks! The crowd was well versed with the 1997 ‘Unit’ and 1996 ‘Tu Plang’ albums, including Polyester Girl (synched to farting CO2 machines), I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am, I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff, Black Bugs, and ! (The Song Formerly Known As).
The slightly dehydrated (and alcohol-primed) crowd belts every word in unison to the 90’s classics. Regurgitator have done extensive tours of the ‘Unit’ album since 2017, but I’m up with the modern Gurge too to keep it relevant.
Let’s welcome keytar, guitar and all ‘round on-point rocker Sarah Lim to the Gurge pack! Sarah enabled Quan Yeomans and Brisbane’s own 4ZZZ’s Lord-Ben Ely the freedom to rock, sans instrument. Sarah supported them as she rocked between the two axes, most notably enabling Quan’s free flow during Epic. Peter Kostic is almost unrecognisable not in costume, smacking the skins with this particular humour and crowd-enticing charisma behind them.
I am going on the Regurgitator defensive – hard! This is against the reckless few ignorant clowns that grumbled about hearing so much new stuff! (The irony of that statement is not lost on me between the ‘Tu-Plang’ and ‘Unit’ album transition). It’s time to move out of your comfort zone and get into the luxurious purple and gold ‘Invader’. Try playing it on full volume on a smooth highway in a white powdered Lamborghini on a Cocaine Runaway for max effect…So Quan tells us.
An example of this modern brilliance is Pest, Quan’s guitar solo invoking just as much dancing from the crowd as the requested surprise My Friend Robot. Gurge have this humour-spiked, geek-punk party-mode perfected. What better way to carry the cheeky electro-punk-funk than the collaborative excellence of This Is Not a Pop Song (minus Peaches).
I urge you to examine the lyrics to Wrong People: “We could stand together or we could fall alone…I wanna stand with the wrong people…Fuck the right!” This song echoes social recalibration in a perfect way with full Gurge satire and social justice brilliance.
Tsunami, has the smoothest-paced intro, and Ben reminds us just to chill, “We all fall apart at the end, all for nothing”. In between, Ben tells us how much he loves Brisbane, and having the crowd recite “P.E.N.I.S”, he also had us chant to missing Michael Hutchins, dedicating Devil Inside to his memory.
I’m hanging out until the next Gurge show to hear Invader (title track) and the aptly named Dirty Old Men, bonus points if it is with the collaborator; the king of the Tweed JK-47.
In summary, the line-up today made it worth melting into a puddle of piss on the vulcanising bitumen carpark at Nudgee Beach Hotel for Hotter Than Hell ‘24. I’m foolish enough to do it next year, but with a wider brim hat and having rotated ‘Invader’ another 1500 times in between.
Big, deep, Gurge, geek-punk love, forever.
Thanks to On The Map PR
