Reviewing Welsh rockers Future Of The Left is an intimidating prospect.
The words I write could never compare to the ones that fell effortlessly from frontman Andy Falkous’ mouth: “The buzzing from the monitors sound like Dave Mustaine [Megadeth singer] having a thought,” he cracked.
But the combination of Andy’s sharp tongue and the band’s ferocity made for a memorable show at Brisbane’s The Foundry (12 January), sending the daunting prospect of capturing it in words far from my mind.
Click here to read our 2017 December interview with Andy Falkous.
Opening was local four-piece Hound, whose set covered a range of genres including pop-punk, desert rock and pub rock. Strumming hands blurred from the speed they played, with some great hooks emerging from the feedback.
Local trio Turnpike followed with a set of noise rock so loose they didn’t have a set list, deciding among themselves what to play next; deciding on heavy rumbles of sludge-coated noise.
It would’ve proved a challenging listen for most, but the threatening growl of their instruments only drew the crowd closer.
With all the noise filling the venue, it proved a surprise when Madeline Kahn’s ‘I’m Tired’ from ‘Blazing Saddles’ played over the speakers.
Kahn’s faux-German accent signalled arrival of Future Of The Left, who drowned out their walk-on song with the crunching bass of ‘The Lord Hates A Coward’ turning fans’ confusion into excitement.
The room was cramped, making it hard for fans to do more than shuffle on the spot. The limited space didn’t stop fans letting off ecstatic screams upon hearing the first synth note of ‘Manchasm’.
Andy’s sharp tongue was loose, dedicating ‘You Need Satan More Than He Needs You’ to “the demon sentenced to having sex with Tony Abbott in hell”.
His humour turned into rage during songs, with blood rushing to his furrowed brow as he barked and screamed throughout ‘Eating For None’. The rest of the band let their actions do the talking especially bassist Julia Ruzicka, who played like a beast tearing at a weaker animal’s flesh.
There were only so many of their songs they could play in their set, so they finished with a medley of “all the songs not good enough to play all of”.
After several interruptions from an overeager fan, they began with the gentle ‘French Lessons’ moving on to the ranting ‘Singing Of The Bonesaws’, then mixing together ‘Lapsed Catholics’ and mclusky’s ‘Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues’.
From there, Andy and Julia pulled apart Jack Egglestone’s drums while he continued playing. With the kit strewn across the stage, the band kept jamming with Jack having to reach far to hit each piece and Julia still playing while being carried by the audience.
It was a chaotic ending to a fantastic show sure to shadow future 2018 gigs with the question, ‘Was it as good as Future Of The Left?’.
