On Saturday the 15th of June, I got to attend the biggest Blind Greyhound Promotions show yet. The show labeled Shepparton Punk Rock Festival was held at SKKY Bistro & Party Bar in the regional Victorian city of Shepparton.
All Hope Remains
All Hope Remains played first taking the stage at 6pm, there was around five minutes of line checking and audio adjustment to get the sound right, during which All Hope Remains managed to start, stop and pick up where they left off completing a full song before the sound engineer gave the thumbs up to officially start their set.
All Hope Remains gave a high energy performance showcasing their melodic skate punk sound, playing older songs like Tolerate and Hit Rewind as well as their latest release Mirror Mirror.
The banter between songs was on point, mentioning the band name and where they were from numerous times throughout the set, a great idea for the opening act or even just a visiting act.
The Resignators
The Resignators were the second band to perform and they looked cramped on stage. The set list was a good mix of recent songs from Party Dates and Rabbithole, with a few of their more punky tracks and a great cover song. I like the way they had a joke about being The Designators that anyone who spotted the set times post could have a laugh at. I’m surprised there were not more people in the crowd to see one of the biggest ska bands in Australia but I got to enjoy the show.
BRAND
Next up was BRAND who had a different vibe altogether, think the soft verse, heavy chorus and drone sounds from grunge mixed with more experimental guitar noises like Tom Morello, mixed with well timed stop/start moments like what you might hear from a skate punk band and possibly a great guitar solo. I really enjoyed the set apart from the vocals getting a little muddy at points but the set left me feeling like I’d just seen that one weird band included on a warped tour.
Relays
Relays, bogan shed punk from Bendigo played a solid set of their particular brand of punk, including Falcon, Kangaroos, Kids Fattening Centre, It’s O.K. and perhaps the song they’re best known for Eshay. The music was fast, loud and tight but playing after a ska band left the mix coming out front of house a little off for the first song or two.
The Kittyhawks
The Kittyhawks had me smiling for the whole set. I had heard some songs before the show but watching them live and feeling that energy was an amazing experience.
At this point in the show the mix coming through front of house was so clear that it perfectly served the dynamic ska set delivered by The Kittyhawks. I can’t believe that I didn’t guess that awesome cover, it was a great inclusion to the set.
Outta Spite
The final band of the night were Melbourne based Outta Spite. I’m not that familiar with the band but I’d like to be after watching their set. Outta Spite sound like a Fat Wreck Chords band from some compilation CD I got in the late 90’s.
I can’t tell you what songs they played but they closed the night with a solid cover of Ataris song “San Dimas …” which I’m a big fan of and possibly lost my voice singing along to.
Photo Credit Punktoria
