Freeza Central with Frenzal Rhomb and Bodyjar

It’d be so easy to hang shit on an all ages gig. Lots of too-trendy-to-be-seen-without-my-tight-jeans-and-simple-plan-hair types. Parents hanging around the back like at a Blue Light Disco. The strict no ‘dangerous activities’, no alcohol, no smoking rules. And the incessant muttering of “OMGOMGOMG” every time a potential band member walked passed (because no-one really knows if its them or not). Freeza Central has to take the responsibility. And the congratulations. Without the alcohol, smoking, and ‘dangerous activities’ the focus falls to the music. This makes a welcome change.

The supporting ‘battle bands’ were all passable. With the lively stage presence of ‘Forward Thought’ rightfully taking out the honours, ‘Dialysis’ was awarded second for god knows what reason. ‘Amongst the Shadows’ weren’t my cup of tea, but were technically proficient and had the most friends in the crowd, while ‘Stealing Glimpses’ seemed the most commercially friendly and easiest to listen to, despite my general rule of chick vocalists not doing punk well.

Bodyjar decided to do the rock n roll thing and make the show run late, but instead were faced with a cut short set of just over 30 mins. It was still long enough to strike a nicely balanced mix of old and new tracks. It was still vibrant enough to make the ‘dangerous activities’ warnings farcical. And it was still ass-movingly-fun enough to convert the minions that had earlier been saying ‘who’s Bodyjar?’ (I kid you not). As Frenzal later said “I think of all the battle entrants, Bodyjar were definitely the best.”

Obviously the crowd had come for Frenzal Rhomb. This is puzzling considering the number of extra-curricular activities the band have undertaken recently and the lack of new releases since…well, almost two years now. It was fun to see kids walking around in “we f*** our cousins” t shirts who were obviously still in primary school and singing along to “row, row, row your boat” when they were first issued. All that aside, Frenzal had no choice but to play old stuff, and the crowd ate it up. “Dangerous activities” was the order of the day, with multiple, short-lived, crowd surfs, continual moshing, and even clothing projectiles aimed on stage. (I mean really, how dare Lindsay not wear a dress!). The banter got a bit tired with such gems as “if you’re not enjoying this, it means you like the Rogue Traders”, but the tried and true ‘freebies for the crowd’ and ‘jump down into the barricaded bit to get closer to the crowd’ seemed to keep the masses happy.

It would be easy enough to pay out the all ages phenomenon, but lets face it, at 24, I’m just a jaded, cynical fart not quite old enough to know what I’m talking about, and too old to remember how crap it was to be 16/17 and unable to go see whichever bands I want. So thanks to Freeza Central, thanks to Frenzal, thanks to Bodyjar. And thanks to all the mums and dads who were there waiting outside on time to pick up their little angels who’d been inside partaking in ‘dangerous activities’ and subsequently throwing up in the corner.

Share this review on Facebook