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REGURGITATOR / Photo – @elisedphoto

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REGURGITATOR
+ The Empty Threats + Moler
@ The Gov, Adelaide,
24th November 2023
(Live Review)

Review by Colin Reid (@cdrimagery)

Photos by – @elisedphoto

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REGURGITATOR / Photo – @elisedphoto

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“You’re going to see Regurgitator again?” a friend asked. “Yep” I replied. “Didn’t you see them like 6 months ago?” they followed up. “Yep” I replied again. Just for context dear reader I’ve seen Regurgitator 7 times in the last 5 years. In no way do I think that is too much or in any-way obsessive.  “How come?” they seemed a little incredulous that anyone would need to see the same band so often. “Because every time I see them it’s great, every time its different and every time it is fun.”

Another full house, this time at The Gov, shows I’m not alone in this respect. There are another 900 or so in the venue that feel the same way that I do!

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MOLER / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Moler, a loud, trashy 3-piece power pop rock band from Melbourne get us underway. They are loud, the guitarist pumping out a big sound through a big Marshall amp. Massive slabs of sound from power chords and when the song permits amazing solos too.  Their songs are very catchy but I can’t quiet place who do they remind me of? Maybe a bit of Spiderbait with a powerful vocal performance from bassist Helen Cattanach who sometimes had a little bit of a Courtney Love in her voice.  They were great, much to good to be the opening act.  That is something you tend to expect from a Gurge show, it always features a very strong band line up.  The drummer mentions that it is a very long time since they played Adelaide. Well all I can say to that is please make sure you come back again soon because you made a lot of new fans in the room tonight.

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THE EMPTY THREATS / Photo – @elisedphoto

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The second band on is Adelaide 5 piece The Empty Threats.  I’d heard good things about them from more than one source. My expectations were high and they were more than met. If you haven’t seen them yet then my advice is to believe the hype!  They are fast becoming an Adelaide institution, plenty in the crowd knew the songs and were singing along. Why hadn’t I made the effort to see them before? Why haven’t you?

The vocalist has huge stage presence. It is kind of like someone put the essence of Billy Idol, Brian Molko, Michael Hutchence and Brandon Flowers into a blender and he absorbed it and now embodies them all.  The whole band has stage craft and an energy about them that is infectious. They are the kind of band that a station like Triple J should be championing; young, vibrant, exciting and with something to say.  They closed out with ‘Boys in the Gutter’ from their recently released ‘Monster Truck Mondays’ album which is brilliant.

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REGURGITATOR / Photo – @elisedphoto

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The full house crowd are full of anticipation for the Gurge. The band rush the stage, all wearing matching white denim jeans and trucker jackets covered in covered in what looked like hand draw doodles and graffiti of cocks and balls and statements like ‘fux’, ‘dix’ ‘sucker’ ‘bad man’ etc. Check out the attached photo gallery to get the full picture.

They announce to the crowd “You know the drill? we make a lot of noise and you have a good time” and with that the set is underway kicking off with ‘I sucked a lot of cock to get where I am’ and we go wild! It is quickly followed by ‘Black Bugs’ and then by what feels like an impromptu stab at Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’.  “Why is Adelaide always so fucking fun?” Ben asks rhetorically feeding back of the crowd’s energy.

I’ve never heard them sound as loud or as good as they sound tonight. They are clearly having great fun up on the stage. Ben and Quan both goofing around together, back-to-back machine gunning the audience with their guitars, bumping into each other and playing their instruments other the top of each other.  Them having fun is why we have fun and why we keep coming back again and again. It is never stale and it never gets old.

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REGURGITATOR / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Quan, without his guitar, bounces across the stage and offers to the microphone out of the heads of the crowd for us to belt out the chorus to “I will lick your asshole” The crowd doesn’t disappoint. Next up Adelaide’s Hindley Street gets a dedication as the band play the appropriate ’World of Sleaze’.

It is all big riffs, thumping bass lines, guitars being played between legs, driving drums. “I don’t know if anyone knows this record…” Ben asks teasingly. We should and we do! The crowd jumping and dancing on a floor sticky with spilt drinks. No one cares about that, we are all hands in the air, clapping our hands together in time with Ben; the band and the audience synchronised together having the best time.

Their set list charges on without sign of slowing down. “Encores are like wankcores, we are just going keep playing something hardcore” they announce. No break is taken, 20 tracks of all killer no filler are delivered as they close out with the singles ‘Fat Cop’, ‘Polyester Girl’, ‘I wanna be a nudist’ and finally !(The song formally known as).

Such a great night now how soon can I see them again?

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REGURGITATOR / Photo – @elisedphoto

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Check out Elise De Simoni’s (@elidedphoto) full gallery of this event HERE

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REGURGITATOR / Photo – @elisedphoto

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AMNPLIFY – DB