Another great triple-act night was had at Tasmania’s world-renowned, mid-winter festival, Dark Mofo at Hobart’s Altar Bar.
This triple involved three bands who sit within the punk-rock category, albeit that each band was wildly different from the other. This was one of the reasons why the night was as successful as it was.
Each band is fronted by a strong, and confident female lead singer, and all three oozed attitude and tempered aggression in the delivery of each band’s songs.
First up was Hobart’s own Woolworths Flushot, a six-piece collective who fuse psychedelic, noise rock and punk rock (and even a little bit of country and rap) into a whirlwind of fire and fury which whipped the crowd up ready for the following bands, with their superb song ‘Russian Bathhouse’ being a particularly great highlight.
Next up were a band I had not personally heard of before the announcement of this gig, Dick Move, a social and political maelstrom of lo-fi punk fury buried in amongst songs which rarely go longer than two and a half minutes which are borne out of the amalgamation of the punk explosion of the late 70’s in the UK and latter day, modern punk rock which abounds in Australia and New Zealand. Having recently been asked to support The Foo Fighters on their tour in New Zealand, this band is one to watch for (and even more so after having witnessed their incendiary set).
Closing out the evening was Melbourne party, dance-punk six-piece, Gut Health. Funky, yet quirky, heavy basslines underline this band’s output, with bright guitar and keyboards creating an almost impossible-to-not-dance pop sensibility which permeated right throughout the whole performance. The music has a fervour and angular delivery which kept the sold-out crowd on their toes for the entirety. A particular highlight for me was the punchy ‘Uh Oh’ a virtual theme song for lead singer, Athina Uh-oh, and the song which is a perfect auditory advertisement for the band’s music and style.
All in all, this was a wonderful night of music showcasing some of the finest female-led bands from the far-flung reaches of Australia and New Zealand. Despite some difficult lighting, we hope you enjoy our photo galleries. Apologies to those members of the bands who were hidden behind the veil of thick stage smoke, which made image making somewhat nightmarish, and who we were unable to get decent shots of.
Woolworths Flushot Gallery:
Dick Move Gallery:
Gut Health Gallery:
All images: ⓒfullonrockphotography/Andrew Fuller
