We’ve had enough time to recover now from the weekend just gone, and if you were lucky enough to be in Brisbane for it you may have found yourself at one of the best nights on the calendar thus far as live music goes. The triumphant return of The Blurst Of Times festival; a one night rock and roll extravaganza in the debaucherous heart of Fortitude Valley sprawled across three institutional venues in The Brightside, The Foundry and The Zoo.
The entire night may have seemed like one wild blur of beers and good tunes and better people, so if you’re having a spot of bother trying to recall exactly how much fun you had (it was probably all of the fun) we’ve had a reflection on the night that was and came up with six of our favourite moments from it.
Simi Lacroix
This gentleman wins the award for ‘act I knew nothing about prior who blew me away the most’. Dressing like one of Patrick Bateman’s associates (seriously, he looks like a man who’d appreciate an eggshell business card with Romalian type) while belting out sax and synth-heavy 80s-era pop ballads is one surefire way to impress the shit out of me. Having the superb vocal talents to make it legitimate and the eyeball-grabbing stage presence to do it completely solo with nothing but a microphone in hand was the icing on the cake. He is an entertainer of an excellent calibre.
Seriously, the swooning going on in the room was nigh on palpable and if the world is a just and fair place, Simi Lacroix will be a cult favourite in the time it takes to fax his resume to Client Liaison RE: the support slot on their next tour.
Polish Club
Holding the last slot on the indoor stage at The Brightside were Sydney duo Polish Club. Renowned bringers of noise in the form of old time rock and roll and spearheaded by one of the best voices in the business going in frontman Novak’s throaty howl, they did not disappoint one bit. The crowd assembled couldn’t have not boogied along to already classics like Beeping and Did Somebody Tell Me if they tried to resist with every fibre of their being. The same crowd screamed along to every heartfelt plea in Don’t Fuck Me Over and the anthemic Able that closed out their set.
It was a whirlwind from start to finish, and the numbers I could see who came inside from the carpark to the bar for another drink only to find themselves helplessly drawn to the moshpit were a testament to the infectiousness of their simple yet killer effective sound.
Shout outs to the joker who managed to get up onstage and enjoy almost an entire beer in the background before security finally cottoned on and dragged him from the building, nobody was sure how that happened. Polish Club played a great rock and roll set all round, everything you want for a good Saturday night. We caught up with the duo in person before the show and we can attest that they are as candid and personable off the stage as they are on it. Read our interview here.
Bad//Dreems
Headliners Dune Rats were lucky there was still a stage to play on after Adelaide foursome Bad//Dreems got done just about levelling it. The Brightside carpark was at near bursting at the seams capacity for a band who tell a different but all too familiar kind of story. One soundtracked by huge riffs and bigger rhythms infused with the roots of Australian pub rock of old and narrated with the red raw vocals of frontman Ben Marwe.
One of the breakout national acts of 2015 after the release of their debut album Dogs At Bay, Baddies wasted no time in kicking the door in at their very first Blurst, raining down their thundering outsider anthems like Hiding To Nothing, Dumb Ideas, Hoping For, and a frenetic Bogan Pride on a crowd that went wild at every turn. They asked if anybody knew where Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens (and a very vocal proponent of Bad//Dreems) lived before ripping into an emotional My Only Friend and it was a small miracle that a buck wild rendition of Cuffed And Collared didn’t put The Brightside carpark out of commission.
These boys deserve every accolade and plaudit they get. Every song they played came straight from the heart and they were stoked to be there. They are some of the most talented, hard-working musicians in the country today and the results speak for themselves onstage every single time. They’ll be back in town to support The Living End on their tour later in the year if you made the mistake of missing them on Saturday. In the meantime read our chat with frontman Ben and bassist James before they took to the stage here.
Shouts also to the delicious beer on tap from DZ Deathrays all evening as well, as far as rock and roll beers go it’s approximately 1000 times tastier than the garbage lagers from AC/DC and KISS, that’s for sure.
Deafcult
One of the three bands on the bill to have a lady in them, I could feel Deafcult’s music a whole floor down before hearing or seeing it. When I entered the room, the wall of noise that the 6 members were making hit me like a tonne of bricks- in the best way possible. Relentless and overpowering, Deafcult make the kind of music you submit to. You let it take over you entirely with its droning heaviness and powerful set up. Featuring insatiable vocals from Innez Tulloch, this six piece noise rock band had me raring to go early on, packing more than a few punches for the early punters. I’m a relatively new fan of these guys but this set reaffirmed that they are one of the most exciting bands here in Brisbane, and it’ll be so exciting to see what they do next.
The John Steel Singers
For some reason, despite going to local Brisbane gigs for five years now, and despite the fact that The John Steel Singers are a nearing-iconic Brisbane band, our paths have never actually crossed before. But, after Blurst, I am so happy they finally did. Embodying so many influences and styles, their wealth of experience serves them so well and it was a thrill to see them absolutely killing it from start to finish. Although they played to a rather underwhelming crowd size, what we lacked in numbers we made up for in enthusiasm, and the band gave us everything they had. With 8 members on stage, plus guitar extraordinaire Liam Campbell coming on for a solo (and some red wine), the band evoked so much feeling from their captivating set. They seamlessly intertwined their funked-up, psychedelic tinged new material with their older stuff, providing an absolutely sensational set to end an almighty day. Although I am extremely late to the party, I’m so glad I came at all. Keep an eye out for their forthcoming album. I’m expecting it to be just as fantastic as this set was!
Kirin J Callinan
The man, the myth, the legend. Kirin won hands down for the most bizarre, but best set of the day. His metal pop sounds reverberated throughout The Foundry, the sexual tension palpable and the faces definitely melted after his searing guitar work. Standing right at the back of the crowd, it was amazing to not only take it all in in all it’s fucking weird glory, but also to see how people were reacting to Kirin reaching peak Kirin on stage. A few people actually asked me, “What is this? What is happening?” to which I answered “Just let it happen.” I’m not sure if they took my advice, but they definitely should have.
Infusing electronic elements with metal to create the sounds that Kirin and his two buddies were making is unchartered territory, but they made it work just so damn well. It’s certainly for the open-minded, but once you get past the “What the fuck?” stage, you’ll actually be hearing some pretty great music. Everything he does is unpredictable, on stage and off, and whilst it’s been a long time since we have had any official release from him (save for a few collaborations here and there), so I am secretly hoping his next move is just an album of metal electro pop. But, as is with Kirin, you never really know, so you’re best to just sit back and “let it happen.”
Image: Luke Henery