Sydney sits in the middle of a typhoon-like downpour, but that won't stop the party at UNSW Roundhouse where Regurgitator and friends have also descended (1 June).
Opening act Monster Zoku Onsomb! begin with a flurry of notes and sound that wake you right up. Frontwoman Miss P vocalises like a monkey as the beat thumps. "I'm a creature!" she yells for the next song, spinning her lengthy braid around.The guitarist is dressed in zebra pants and a gimp mask with a white swirl, while the keys player sports an anime yellow-green hairstyle as the DJ waves his arms around wildly. I don't know what's happening but it's a whole lot of fun. In fact they're all wearing zebra jumpsuits.
The garage bass kicks heavily for their next song, as Miss P announces: "Done, I'm done!" The energy is high before she screams out a pig squeal note. Imagine Mad Max grew up in the jungle then moved to underground Berlin and you're pretty close to what is occurring onstage.
Next band Cry Club enter with grunge rock, Heather Riley commanding the stage with an engaging rough persona and impressive vocals. When I say impressive, I mean, dang impressive.
Yet another band come on, it's like a festival in here. Party Dozen comprises one drummer and one saxophonist who blast through their heavy rock tunes, saxophonist Kirsty Tickle intermittently screaming into her sax mic. It's heavy, fast and experimental, the drumming especially intricate.
Regurgitator enter as the clock ticks towards 10pm, the rain still pouring down. "I'm just a sucker like you," frontman Quan Yeomans sings and screams as the band thrash through their first number.
"Sydney can I get some screams?" he asks and the crowd oblige. Keytarist Sarah Lim has a bushel of hair which she flips back and forth under yellow and red lights. The band keep the foot firmly on the gas, hammering through 'Bongzilla' at a rate of knots, Yeoman shredding out a pensive guitar solo.
'Invader' starts the songs from their latest album offering, a smooth, sizzling rock number. Purple lights rain down as Lim stands in front of the fan, her hair floating up and down like an octopus. It is mesmerising.
'Wrong People' has the energy of an English soccer pub and 'Pest' sits in the same vein, lasers swirling over the crowd who bop incessantly. "This is for our friends," Yeoman states for 'Content', a poppy commentary on social media. "Give me the dopamine drips," he begs as a dissonant guitar riff rings out. It's effective.
'Fat Cop' features impressive, slick guitar licks, before Yeoman yells, "this is for the people with dirty old men in their life. There's too many of them!" The lights turn green and gold through the smoke wafts as the crowd jumps up and down. 'Polyester Girl' is welcomed by cheers from the crowd, as stars dance across the roof. It is fun and heartwarming.
"We're playing a lot of songs so when we go off for the intermission, don't think it's over," bassist Ben Ely advises as they induce a 2000s garage rock vibe with another new track 'Tsunami'.
Peter Kostic's drums shine as he hits two snare triplets followed by a tom triplet in rhythmic repeats that work so well they make you want to take up drumming. The band keep the energy high, cutting out as they yell "go, go, go, go," multiple times, before returning to their affectionate thrashing.
'Mountains' walks a nice balance between emotive indie rock and danceability, while 'Epic' is heavy hip hop, Yeoman gesturing aggressively as he raps.
They welcome back Monster Zoku Onsomb! as backup dancers for 'This Is Not a Pop Song', which is in fact pop fun. They have another epic dance along in a line for '! (The Song Formerly Known As)', jumping up and down in unison.
The encore comprises a memorable cover of 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' and 26 songs later they are finished. Fun, frivolous and frenetic, Regurgitator are like a theme park ride, once you're on, you're on for the duration and you always end up with a big smile on your face.
