Fans' shrieks filled Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (15 June) when Lydia Lunch’s black-draped figure appeared on stage.
Lydia has become a New York punk icon through her solo work and with 1970s act Teenage Jesus And The Jerks.
Over 40 years of performing, she has gained a cult following and her devoted Brisbane fans ecstatically screamed at being in the presence of their queen and her new band: Retrovirus.
Retrovirus features drummer Bob Bert (formerly of Sonic Youth), bassist Tim Dahl and the brilliantly named guitarist Weasel Walter. Together, the trio made an almighty noise that competed in decibels and grime with the New York City subways.
As the rhythm section laid out dread-filled grooves, Weasel didn’t so much play guitar as he attacked it, forcing pained cries from it while wrestling it to the ground.
Lydia’s voice once was a twisted howl, but age has turned it into a wheeze as rough as sandpaper. This coarseness is brilliantly utilised by Lydia, making her already sordid tales sound more so.
“You know how you take a man in to a parking lot for a 60-second johnny and his wife is next and she’s so much better?” she rasped to laughs.
But on ‘Mechanical Flattery’ she repeatedly howled “I’d run from the night”, sounding more threatening with each repetition over the chaos.
Lydia was a commanding presence throughout that lured fans closer. Over the bluesy grind of ‘The Gospel Singer’ she coughed up violent lyrics before the band paused.
As the silence went on, the tension grew. Lydia reached her hand out and clasped onto a fan’s head. Her eyes pierced into him, finally shouting “Waiting on the word from the gospel singer’s…,” took a deep breath in and shoved the fan away to scream “MOUTH!”, the band relaunching into their brimstone blues.
The band paid tribute to other punk greats including Cleveland’s Pere Ubu and “My favourite ghost” Rowland S. Howard, the deceased Birthday Party guitarist and Lunch’s friend.
Introducing ‘Afraid Of Your Company’, she listed the names of serial killers following with “If they wrote a song about me, it’d be this”. Lydia oozed a danger that’d make those maniacs back away after witnessing the chaos she and Retrovirus unleashed.
But for the many fans who screamed throughout, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus’ company was worth the risk.
