Sydney punks Nancy Vandal are set to reunite after a five-year hiatus at Dead Of Winter Festival in Brisbane.
Nancy Vandal initially performed from 1993 through to 2001, and continue to come together every few years for a live performance.
Their last meaningful run of live shows was in late 2013 promoting the release of their most recent album 'Flogging A Dead Phoenix' [Ed's note: they did reunite for a show at Crowbar in Brisbane in 2017].
Nancy Vandal's vocalist and guitarist, Fox Trotsky (Mike Foxall), says the group are excited ahead of their Dead Of Winter performance. “We have been trying to do [the event'] for a little while actually, so I had it on my radar and sort of been going from strength to strength basically.
“We are one step away from being completely split up, but we have never taken that final step.”
"So we are ready to get off the bench. We are playing twice on the same day, so that's kind of fun.”
While the band aren't officially retired, Fox admits the Dead Of Winter gig sees the band members aligning together for a rare performance. “Nancy Vandal don’t really play very often these days. It kind of fell in a time where we could do it. It just worked out for us, so it was good.
“We are all still pretty friendly. We just live all over the place, so it's not that easy to get together and rehearse,” Fox explains.
“It's literally a once every year or two years where we play. We are one step away from being completely split up, but we have never taken that final step.”
Fans of Nancy Vandal can look forward to a set laden with songs from 'The Debriefing Room' [1996 album]. “Any of the Nancy Vandal fans that listened to 'The Debriefing Room' line-up will have a lot to chew on,” Mike says. “Most of the set is that four-piece line-up.”
Mike says he is eager to perform a few songs the group rarely had the chance to play live in the past. “I am looking forward to playing some of the songs we haven’t played that much. The muscle memory isn’t so good, [but] people will overlook that.”
With a number of 'farewell' shows in the past, Fox admits the band feel somewhat “immortal”.
“When you do as many last gigs as [we have], the emotional gut-punch at the last gig kind of wears off. It's kind of like being immortal. It's a good feeling.
“We sort of got together and did a little tour about three or four years ago, and I think we sort of overstayed our welcome. It was too much.
“I think the right amount of Nancy Vandal is one show every one to two years. People start getting used to us again and the appeal quickly dives. It's the old showbiz maxim: Keep them wanting more.
“The Nancy Vandal community, for what it is, is about having a good time and we have a good time playing and hopefully everyone else will [too].”
