New Years Eve is the most anti-climactic night out of the year and attempting to leave your house in Melbourne amongst the thousands of drunkards who take to the streets is always an interesting affair. Fortunately the crowd at the Corner Hotel were reasonably well behaved and a sizable audience gathered early to witness Ouch My Face obliterate the venue with their riotous performance. Celeste Potter is ferocious onstage and the power behind her vocal howls is intimidating to say the least. Ben Ely is a recent addition to the band and the three piece already play as a tight, cohesive unit who proved themselves to be one of the best live bands in town with a phenomenal performance that was over far too quickly. Ouch My Face’s punk experiments sound incredible and they play with a fierce intensity that is always thrilling to experience. They’re the kind of band who let the music do the talking with minimal crowd interaction allowing the raw fury and haphazard nature of their sound completely consume the listener. Here’s hoping 2012 finally sees the release of an LP from this lot.
Next up was Londoner Lewis Floyd Henry. Had I not been watching the stage I would’ve assumed that Henry had a full band accompanying him as the sounds he was creating seemed too huge to be coming from just one man. His style of music was not to my taste although the majority of the audience seemed to enjoy his alt-country blues-infused rock. For me the spectacle of his one man show wore off rather quickly but there is no denying his ability to pen a catchy tune or his obvious technical skills. The punters gave him a warm round of applause as he walked off stage and then flocked back to the main stage to stake their places down the front, ready for the main event.
Regurgitator bucked the rock and roll trend of a fashionably late entrance and surprised the crowd by starting early with no introductions, simply opening the curtain and launching straight into the music. Quan Yeomans, Ben Ely and Peter Kostic were in fine form post their Falls Festival “Unit” shows and had help on keys courtesy of local artist Seja. The happy vibes were at an all time high as the crowd rocked along with the band and their backdrop of visual projections of artwork taken from their latest record SuperHappyFuntimesFriends. The ‘Gurge played a killer set showcasing an even mix of the old and new, highlights of which were “One Day”, “Everyday Formula”, “Track 1”, “Bong In My Eye”, “All Fake Everything” and “I Want To Lick Your Arsehole” – which Ben introduced about three times during the first half of the show before it was finally played, with both him and Quan poking fun at his own inability to read the set list.
The boys did the obligatory midnight countdown before welcoming in the new year with a fantastic rendition of “! (The Song Formerly Known As)” which they followed up with “I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am” with the band informing us that their new years resolution was to not suck as much. Regurgitator powered through the second half of the show, thrilling the crowd with cracker versions of “The Drop”, “Fat Cop” and “Polyester Girl” before bringing the night to a close with an encore of “Black Bugs” and “Kong Foo Sing”.
Regurgitator’s live shows are more fun then a barrel of monkeys. Their hilarious nature makes for amusing onstage antics and their passion for their sound combined with their intense, energetic delivery and ability to change and evolve with time makes even their oldest songs still sound fresh and relevant in 2012. Big thanks to the ‘Gurge for hosting a brilliant New Years Eve party that, for once, wasn’t a total let down.
