Last Friday (20 September) at Brisbane's The Brightside indoor venue, I introduced one of my gig buddies to the live sounds of Osaka Punch. It was fun to see her reactions.
We arrivied early to catch the first support, prog rock, prog metal band Gladiolus: Dan Hendrex (vocals, guitar), Joe Shirley (drums), Anon Nesci (bass) and Zak Muller (guitar), who all hail from locations within the South-East corner.On hearing their opening song 'Chrysalis', I wonder if I've been hiding under a rock – how could I not know about this band? I'm floored by their collective musicianship and frontman Hendrex's vocal chops are stunning in range, style and sustainment. Dude can hold a note.
The Gladiolus tasting platter includes 'The Precipice', which is followed by 'Disintegrator' and both tracks boast the range of their creative songwriting and vocal dexterity of Hendrex.
Talking to fans in the crowd, I'm told they've taken their time to perfect the formula of each piece of their art to a point where they were good enough to go straight to a debut album release 'Inertia' rather than testing the waters with an EP.
Gladiolus - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Before their final song, Hendrex stops to tell us he has some good news and bad news. "The bad news this is our last song. The good news is we are a prog band so it's about ten minutes long!" 'Inertia', the title track from their concept album, is our parting gift and we are immersed in the experience of their art once again. It is thick and dense with breathy bits, rich textures, atmospheric melody.
Another live first for me tonight. I know very little about Acid Cherry and have only heard a handful of songs that I have stumbled across. From the little info I could glean, the band features Brooke Beauchamp (vocals), Nicole Poh (drums), Zoe Middleton (guitar) and a second guitarist and a bass player – but I do not know their names. . . maybe Giacinta Paisarn and Constance Grafos?
The stage is barely illuminating the all-girl heavy metal band as they prepare to unleash their unique sound. 'My Blood Is Mud' is their opener and from the get go, Beauchamp is a convincing and confident frontwoman. Her voice is a perfect storm – equal parts primal scream and melodic soul – effortlessly transitioning between guttural growls and hauntingly clear notes.
The sound backing her is a sonic earthquake, a brutal blend of nu-metal's ferocity and grunge's tortured and gritty undertones evident in 'Trophy Baby', 'Snakes And Ants', and 'Vultures Land'.
Acid Cherry - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Each riff from the guitarists cuts through the air like a serrated blade –sharp and heavy. The bass thunders under it all with a deep, relentless pulse syncing with the driving rhythm from Poh, giving it all she's got to deliver every beat.
Fans get right into 'Pretty = Dead' and audience members who are also unfamiliar with their music are won over by their brilliant Limp Bizkit cover of 'Break Stuff' that has punters feeding off their energy, head-banging and moshing bathed in red light.
These women own the stage, not as performers, but as warriors and are well on their way to leading a sonic revolution where vulnerability and rage collide resulting in some impressive musical chops to offer the world. They end their set with 'Prisoner', 'Barely Alive' and 'Nosebleed'; raw, gritty, and just bloody good fun.
The stage returns to darkness. It's always a dark stage for Osaka Punch (OP) and photographing them can be almost impossible. Thankfully OP have added a few lumens to the stage to set the mood.
Punters are cheering and raising their arms towards Jack Venables/ Muzak (vocals, keys), Brenton 'Reggie' Page (bass), Chrispy Town (guitar) and Blair Hamilton (drums) as they take to the stage. Of course, Venables is very animated as he moves across the stage, waving at us with his goofy grin and exaggerated body movements.
From their latest album 'Mixed Ape', 'Slink' gives us the opening beats, which quickly kick over the party engine. When the groove busts in, the sea of heads in the room start to bang in unison. Venables keeps on with his theatrical facial expressions, while his dance moves are cause for many grins around the room.
Osaka Punch - image © Clea-marie Thorne
'Hall Of Shame', another from 'Mixed Ape', is followed by 'Eat You Up' from their 'Death Monster Super Squad' album. It's a banger with heavy guitar punches smashing through the speakers, grabbing us 'by the balls' and we let it. I need to mention the addition of live horns is really punctuating the jazzy and funky feels of their music – so glad this was not prerecorded. Tasty!
Fans from the days of the Kidney Thieves get an old favourite from their debut album 'Voodoo Love Machine'. It's of course 'Eat Red Carpet', with crowd voices chiming in loud and clear. It's about now I notice the old-school OP band tees, but a heck of a lot of Mixed Ape tees.
Moshing continues as fans scream along to the chorus of 'Kamikaze' before a change of pace, but not without the funk, comes with 'Heat Death Ray'. Venables is showing off the diversity of his vocal chops on this one; from soaring vocals to pattering spoken lines – he is in fine form.
Next is 'Simulate', then a banger I've not seen played before 'Feather In A Hurricane' (or 'Swamp Ass' as they call it) showcasing the musicianship of OP (and their horn wielding guests). Riffs and rhythms are being executed like a well-oiled machine, purring along with precision timing. OP's intelligent and witty lyrics reflect many aspects of our lives; from the personal challenges to observations of the broader social issues and states of play in our society and the world.
Osaka Punch - image © Clea-marie Thorne
OP can't help but infect us with their funky, jazzy, pop, metal mashup that is akin to being slapped by a silk glove – smooth but smarting. With their live, unrestricted grooves that dance across multiple genres, it's this innovation to employ diversity that keeps all their albums on high rotation on fan's playlists.
We next get killer track 'Drones' that sends fans into a frenzy, sustaining their state of bliss through their jazz, funk and rock madness. Sweat is flying off the foreheads of the band and the crowd, and honestly, no one cared.
During the set we find out that tonight not only celebrates the music of Osaka Punch, but it is Hamilton's birthday; Crispy will be Dad to another baby within the month; Venables, who is soon to be married, has his in-laws at the show, and all the way from Mt Isa. It's these kinds of shares that make you feel you're part of something more than just a gig, ya know?
Moving towards the end of the set we get classic banger 'Actibreeze' with a bit of 'Ghost Busters' thrown in for a bit of fun – it works a treat; OP have a knack of adding in silly stuff and making it sound tight. We all have a hell of a lot of fun with this one and it well and truly has my gig buddy committed to the sounds.
We don't mind when Venables tells us they won't be doing the whole encore razzamatazz maybe cos they are 'Too Old (For This Sh.t)' – I reckon a few of us in the crowd felt seen among the young fans in the room. LOL.
Osaka Punch - image © Clea-marie Thorne
I guess Venables could have said it's 'How We Operate' in relation to the encore! This one is going next level and the band jammed the life out of us closing out a set that swung between funky grooves, crunchy riffs, and all-out party vibes. It was glorious!
I can truthfully say I took me a sucker punch in the chops with one banging mixed tape, tonight .. . IYKYN! OP, thanks for the frission that has flooded our brains with dopamine. It's been one hell of an endorphin boost that will last me a week or more! Don't let us hunger too long before the next OP hit.
More photos from the concert.
