Since the day I saw that Municipal Waste were coming to Australia after more than a decade I got very excited. I have never seen them live before and I have been a fan of them since ‘The Art of Partying’, so tonight I finally managed to erase them from my bucket list. These crazy Americans are one of the main responsible bands for the resurgence of Crossover Thrash that has been going strong since the mid to late 2000’s. Even though they are obviously influenced by the original Crossover bands like Suicidal Tendencies or D.R.I., Municipal Waste has managed to become highly influential themselves to this massive wave of newer bands that have happily adopted some or most of those weirdly specific conceptual elements like bite-sized songs, colorful Ed Repka-style illustrations, comedic themes and a very strange obsession with green goop and toxic/nuclear waste themes (seriously, what’s with that? I’m genuinely curious), that make the Crossover Thrash subgenre what it is today.
This was a surprisingly early concert, with the first band hitting the stage at 7.30 pm and everybody out the door by 10.50 later in the night. Also, I had never been to this venue before, so I was curious to check it out. Queanbeyan band The Vee Bees were responsible to warm up the stage with their extremely enjoyable blend of old school Punk with Garage Rock and a generous pinch of Aussie humor. Their songs were chunky riff-based party anthems that went down easily with the already somewhat populated venue. Most of their songs are comedic in nature, and their Punky vibe helped the attendees to get ready for the mayhem that was boiling in the backstage. Special mention to the frontman/singer for his awesome energy, jumping around the surprisingly big stage and even coming down to interact with the crowd and throw some antics like running around holding a massive beer-shaped floaty dinghy thing. Also big kudos to the sound people, because the sound from the very first moments of The Vee Bees’ set (and throughout the night) was nothing short of amazing. Everything was very well balanced and the levels were just beautiful all night. This is something that is not often heard, let alone from the first bands of the night, so it was a very nice surprise.
After a 30-minute long set and a short changeover, local heavyweights The Neptune Power Federation came onstage. Now, this was definitely a surprising choice for a main supporting act, considering the type of music they play and the overall atmosphere they convey. This band plays a very Classic Rock infused blend of Psychedelic Occult Rock, with big emphasis on grooves, atmospheres and incredible vocal deliveries. I have seen them before a couple times, and was hooked to their live performance immediately, with gifted singer and frontwoman Imperial Priestess Screaming Loz Sutch being the absolute highlight of every show. Her larger than life onstage persona is perfectly curated. For instance, the moment she first appeared onstage tonight, (wearing a beautifully decorated white Victorian dress and a massive neck frill with fairy lights attached to it), she proceded to – literally – drop feed some mysterious liquid to every single person on the front line. Crazy antics, great costumes and unexpected crowd interactions like these are exactly what makes Loz’ character so memorable every time TNPF play a live show. Throughout their 40-minute show, she proceeds to deliver some of the highest screeches and most challenging vocal sections I have witnessed before, with such apparent ease, all while never breaking character from this intriguing priestess-witch that at moments acts as if she is seeing things that nobody else can see. Personally, I believe that this band is at their best when they play more atmospheric songs, as it helps their occult energy really shine, but I must also admit that this is the first time I have seen them play a larger venue, and this type of setting definitely limits the way the band and Loz herself can interact with the crowd (which is one of their trademarks). Now, I happen to like TNPF quite a lot, but I do believe that cozier and smaller venues make their shows shine more, and I totally understand why some party-thrasher attendees seemed a bit confused with the somewhat radical change in musical styles. Regardless, The Neptune Power Federation are an awesome band, and If you have never seen them live, do yourself a favour and catch their next gig as soon as you can.
Finally, the time came and Municipal Waste appeared onstage exactly at 9.40 pm to the frenzied roar of the crowd who was clearly thirsty for some fast and aggressive music, and more beer of course. And they got it, in copious amounts, because exactly 00:01 seconds after the first note was played, the room went absolutely ballistic, with a massive circle pit appearing out of nowhere and stage divers doing their thing not long after charismatic frontman Tony Foresta appeared. Municipal Waste play Crossover Thrash, no more and no less. They play 1 to 2 minute-long songs that are totally filled with fast drums, angry riffs and mostly yelled-out single-note vocals that sometimes turn into extremely catchy gang vocals. That is their thing, and they do it brilliantly and always having a ton of fun. This means though that in the roughly 1-hour long show we end up listening to around 25 or more songs, most of which sound very similar to the previous one, thus effectively making this show more of a 1 big-long-song gig, and a whole sonic and physical experience in itself. And that is perfectly fine, because this has been one of the most fun hours that I have ever had in my life. Tony Foresta is a brilliant frontman and owns the crowd from the moment he steps foot onstage. He moves and sounds as if he was 25 years younger, with infectious energy and over the top charisma that is perfectly transmitted to everyone. The rest of the band plays very tightly and jumps around as well, constantly interacting with the lucky people on the front lines.
As the hour goes by, we move from one short aggressive song to the next one, never letting the party vibe fizz out and always keeping a healthy number of bodies inside that permanent circle pit that never closes and that takes like 60% of the total floorspace. I can easily say this is one of the top 5 most wild and physically demanding shows I have ever witnessed, and also one of the most fun ones for that matter. Projectiles came from every angle possible, and in the shape of beer cans, people, shoes, and even an empty rubbish bin that Foresta himself throws to the crowd early into the show, and entices us to keep throwing it around. I really wanted to experience this hour of frenzy and madness from different angles and locations inside the room, but that also meant that I had to keep my wits with me at all times, as potential collisions could come from the front, the sides and even from above (some of those flying shoes were really stealthy). By the time the band were playing their last tunes, even the security personnel were partaking in the rubbish bin and shoe throwing, that is how fun and wild this gig was. I could see how a gig like this is therapy of sorts for a lot of the people in there. People that probably had a shit time at work that week, and just needed the right environment to vent and let off some steam in a fun and wild gig. I was happy to report that considering the madness, the gig never felt dangerous, and the vast majority of people were quick to help fallen heroes off the ground every time it happened.
In a show like Municipal Waste’s it is hard to pinpoint a highlight song or two (I did love ‘The Art of Partying’ and ‘Mind Eraser’ though, my favourite songs by the band), as all of them are very similar and convey the same type of energy. Instead, the highlights came from specific moments. Like the time when Foresta asked the band to throw 40 shoes to the stage if they wanted him to do a shoey. Challenge accepted, and soon enough he was doing both a shoey AND and thongey. After approximately 1 hour of Crossover Thrash therapy, the band said their goodbyes and promised not to wait that long again to return. I managed to get out of there almost unscathed, with the exception of a slightly sore shoulder, but with a massive smile on my face (and a bass pick that bassist Phil ‘Land Phil’ Hall chucked out). And from what I could tell, everybody was extremely happy and exhausted as well. Honestly, this was one of the most fun I have had at a show, and I would do it all over again without a question.
written by Roman Ibarra & photos by Michael Lueders
Municipal Waste:
The Neptune Power Federation:
The Vee Bees:
