Racehorse Hotel, Ipswich
Saturday February 10, 2018 :
It’s not often you get the chance to revisit some of your favourite bands from your teenage years coming together in the one show, so when the Hotter Than Hell Festival tour made it’s way to Queensland last weekend, I grabbed a few mates, dusted off the Converse All Stars and hit the road out to Ipswich for what was going to be a great day of ’90s Australian music.
To say the Hotter Than Hell tour was aptly named was an understatement, with the sweltering heat seeing most of the black band shirt wearing punters seeking shade under the big top, beers in hand with bright red, shiny, happy faces. Hotter Than Hell is the kind of boutique festival that I love, with its laid back vibes, not too crowded, easy access to bars and backstage, and a really great crowd, non pretentious and no trouble to be had. Just good times, all around.
The day opened up with all girl act, Rackett. Whilst the crowd was only building at this stage, the girls played as if they were playing to a stadium crowd. High energy, crazy dance moves, and lots of fun. There was plenty of audience interaction, with lead singer Bec leaning over the barrier to kiss people in the crowd.
Next up were Bodyjar, who came out and played with as much energy and passion as they did in the ’90s. Kicking off with ‘You Say’ and ‘Remote Controller’, a mosh pit quickly formed, security rushed in to catch the crowd surfers coming over the barrier. Yep. Feels like we are right back at Homebake ’98. Yew!
Highlights of their set included their always amazing cover of the Simon and Garfunkel track ‘A Hazy Shade Of Winter’, as well as ‘Fall to the Ground’, and my favourite, ‘Not The Same’, as well as showcasing a brand new track (check out the image below of the lyrics taped to the floor). They wrapped up the set with ‘One In A Million’ and its safe to say that by this point, the crowd is more than warmed up.
Next up, Frenzy Rhomb. I will start this by saying that Frenzal were, without a doubt, my favourite band as a teenager. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen them play live over the past couple of decades so when the all familiar “Freeeeennnnnnnnnnnzal, Freeeeennnnnnnnnnnzal” chant started in the crowd, I was immediately transported back to my 16 year old punk self, sneaking in to Bar On The Hill to see them play while I was underage, travelling from Newcastle down to Newtown with my best mates to see them play at any opportunity we could.
Frenzal never change. Their shows are exactly the same as they were back in the day (minus Lex, of course), Jay’s still rocking the shirt over shirt combo, He and Lindsay entertaining the crowd with their banter, jokes aimed at the location they’re playing in, and of course, lots of solid, high energy punk rock. They are still so much fun and I know from looking around at the smiles, laughs, moshing and crowd surfing in the crowd, I’m not the only one loving life right now.
The set kicked off with ‘Classic Pervert’, ‘Ray Ahn is my Spirit Animal’ and ‘C*nt Act’ which certainly got the crowd’s attention. There were plenty of cheers while playing ‘Russel Crow’s Band’ and ‘Bucket Bong’. The introduction to ‘I’m Shelving Stacks (While I’m Stacking Shelves)’ was hysterical and standing up on the stage, looking out over the crowd while the Doctor, absolutely shredding and flying through the air while playing ‘Mr Charisma’ was a definite highlight of the set for me. My 16 year old self was certainly thrilled at that point.
The rest of the set was a best of, classic Frenzal, including ‘Genuis’, ‘Ship Of Beers’, ‘I Miss My Lung’, ‘You Are Not My Friend’ and their cover of the Home And Away theme song. They wrapped up with the all time crowd favourites ‘You Can’t Move Into My House’ and ‘Punch In The Face’, proving that even after all these years they can still whip the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
When you think the day can’t get any better, along come Jebediah. They hit the stage with the biggest smiles on their faces, genuinely so stoked to be playing together which makes me love them even more than I already do. Their music is like a big warm hug from a long lost friend. There is no way you can’t feel good while watching these guys play live.
They jumped straight into ‘Lino’, ‘Animal’ and ‘She’s Like A Comet’, jumping together in unison with the full attention and adoration of the crowd. ‘Military Strongman’ was awesome and ‘Leaving Home’ and ‘Harpoon’ had everyone singing along with hands in the air. Ahh. Rounding out the set was my favourite track, ‘Jerks Of Attention’, as well as ‘Fall Down’ and ‘Teflon’ which had the crowd jumping and honestly, not wanting the set to end.
The final act of the day was Eskimo Joe. While these guys were great, looking slick and the sound was spot on, they just seemed to lack the energy I remember in their live performance, and that of the previous bands we’d seen that day. They seemed to be a strange choice for the headline act of the festival. While many punters slowly cleared out of the big top, the remaining audience were most definitely real fans of the band, loving the show they were putting on.
They kicked off with ‘Sarah’, ‘New York’, ‘Breaking Up’ and ‘London Bombs’, from their from their 2006 Ep, Black Fingernails, Red Wine. ‘Planet Earth’ was beautiful, as was ‘Older Than You’. ‘Got What You Need’ and ‘Not Alone’ gave a pop feel and ‘Love Is A Drug‘ had the crowd singing along with hands in the air. Highlights of the set were definitely the crowd favourite ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ and the night wrapped up with the oh so lovely ‘From The Sea’.
As the crowd poured out of the Racehorse Hotel carpark and we headed back to Brisbane, all commenting on what a great afternoon of live music we had just been lucky enough to be a part of, I certainly hope that Hotter Than Hell will be bringing back the ’90s vibes to regional Australia again next year.
Reviewer + Photographer : Chrissy Kavalieros
ESKIMO JOE
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JEBEBIAH
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FRENZAL RHOMB
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BODYJAR
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RACKETT
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