On a screen in Brisbane's Felon's Barrel Hall (29 July), posters featuring legendary names in music appeared.
Rollins Band, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, and Nirvana are some of the massive international names to appear in the slideshow. Lower on the bills were early gigs for local legends such as Custard, Regurgitator, Screamfeeder and Powderfinger.What all these posters had in common are the illustrations by Paul Curtis, the Brisbane music industry veteran who recently turned 60 years old. Outside his distinctive visuals, Paul booked gigs for venues such as The Roxy, he runs the record label Valve Records, promotes tours, and is the longtime manager of Regurgitator.
For his 60th trip around the sun, Paul is celebrating the only way he knows how: asking his favourite bands to play a massive gig. And Brisbane turned up to celebrate '60 Years Of Damaged Goods'.
Ben Ely's Mungo Fungo Band - image © Bec Harbour
One man who was in the party spirit was Ben Ely. Ben would later close the show with Regurgitator, but he also got the show started with his latest band, Mungo Fungo.
The psych-rock trio let rip with massive drums, thundering grooves, and Ben shredding on some flanging guitar solos, rocking so hard his glasses flew from his face. Ben announced the band had just finished recording their debut album, and based on their opening set it will be a treat for psych-rock fans.
"Pulled pork," yelped The Stress Of Leisure frontman Ian Powne. "It's a sedative!" However, the local quartet's set was far from sedate, loaded with post-punk grooves and off-kilter rhythms.
Heads bounced like Jane Elliott's rubbery basslines, and the microphones surrounding Jessica Moore's kit wobbled from the energy in each drum hit. The band closed their set with a cover of Gang Of Four's seminal hit 'Natural's Not In It', a tribute to Paul and his favourite band.
The Stress Of Leisure - image © Bec Harbour
"Who's got the mic?" a confused punter asked during Sydney band Front End Loader's set. It turned out the band had pre-recorded their stage banter, including a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' for Paul.
With banter out of the way, the band put all of their energy into a rocking set that drove fans in the mosh wild. The biggest reaction came with the opening jazzy drums of "that song we did," 'Pulse', with fans punching the air to the choppy rhythm guitar.
Front End Loader - image © Bec Harbour
"What a pleasure it is for you to be watching us," The Fauves' Andrew Cox told the crowd. Honestly, Andrew is right – the Melbourne band have a fantastic catalogue of sunny-yet-wry songs that still hit the pleasure centres.
Bassist Tim Cleaver put the great sound down to the bass he had to rent due to Andrew leaving his bass back in Melbourne. "My bass back in Melbourne sucks arse compared to this one," he laughed.
Tunes such as 'Self Abuser' and 'Don't Get Death Threats Anymore' sounded fantastic, but there was no denying the love for 'Dogs Are The Best People'. As soon as the wonky opening riff blasted from the speakers, cheers rang out before being replaced by the crowd shouting the chorus.
The Fauves - image © Bec Lee
A slight hiccup occurred very early into Custard's set. Frontman Dave McCormack's guitar strap gave out, requiring the assistance of guest Adele Pickvance and a techie with a roll of gaffer tape.
Despite the mishap, it didn't diminish Dave's charm nor Custard's musicianship. As Dave fixed his strap, Glenn Thompson laid down a beat that, as Dave said, "will get us to number two on the Spotify charts".
All the hits made their way into Custard's set: 'Girls Like That', 'Pinball Lez', 'Pack Yr Suitcases'. Glenn moved to the front to sing his tune, 'Music Is Crap', with DJ El Norto (aka former-Senator Andrew Bartlett) sitting in on drums.
But fans were also treated to a cover of 'Video Killed The Radio Star', and a closing cover of NWA's 'Express Yourself', making the case for Dave's dynamite flow to feature in a future episode of 'Bluey'.
Custard - image © Bec Lee
As the night continued, the crowd were wide-awake for the late closing set from local legends Regurgitator (that included a baby wearing massive earmuffs).
The trio ran onto the stage in matching yellow suits, and Quan Yeomans dedicated their opening tune to Paul: 'I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am'.
After a set of tunes from across their career, the band disappeared and left the crowd with a video of a drum tutorial. Moments later, the band returned, now wearing silver suits, and former member Shane Rudken in a bunny suit and brandishing a keytar.
Regurgitator - image © Bec Harbour
"Who's up for a f...ing mosh?" Ben Ely screamed into the crowd before launching into 'I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff'.
Regurgitator have spent the last year playing their seminal second album 'Unit' in full, and they played it for what may be the last time, as hinted by Quan.
The energy was high as the band played the album through, but may have gotten too high during 'Black Bugs' when Quan had to stop mid-song. "Are we misbehaving?" quipped Ben. The pause was short, and the fun continued for the rest of their set.
After bringing the roof down with 'Kung Foo Sing', Regurgitator invited Paul Curtis to the stage for a few words. "This isn't a celebration of me," he said. "This is me celebrating you."
Regurgitator - image © Bec Harbour
After bringing I Heart Hiroshima's Matt Somers onstage, the band coaxed Paul into a rendition of Gang Of Four's 'Damaged Goods' (the song Paul named the gig after). Paul barked the lyrics, forgetting them just before the chorus.
He may not think he has the chops for performing, but Paul definitely hasn't lost the knack for putting on a fantastic gig. Here's too many more. Happy Birthday, Paul!
