6 January 2024 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words & pictures Bec Harbour
It’s humid, but not overly hot on Saturday night in Brisbane just to change it up from the humid and stiflingly hot weather we have been having. There were plenty of punters milling about out the front of The Princess Theatre in various versions of Summer clothing to know how many demographics the Cosmic Psychos cross with their uniquely Australian societal observational brand of punk.
I was surprised (considering some of their content) to find out that it was an all-ages gig and they had sectioned off the mezzanine for the under 18’s. It is also worth noting that in addition to their die-hard long-time fans, there were a new wave of fans attending this gig, no doubt having found their music through the praise heaped on the Psychos from The Chats because let’s face it, not too many parents would have been listening to them and you were darn lucky if they did. And its 40 years since it began.
First band on stage was Blussh – local Brisbane punk group with a perfect pinch of riot grrrl thrown in. This band is amazing – I first saw them down in the deep dark hole that is Greaser for Mountain Goat Valley Crawl a few years ago. They have since put out an album and supported some big names and of course the song that everyone likes to sing to me ‘Shut Up Becky’. There were plenty of early punters and fans to appreciate Blussh, as it should be.
Blussh – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Hardcore punks Zeke have landed all the way from the US (it’s testament to how lauded the Cosmic Psychos are over there – your favourite grunge band probably cites them as an influence). I hadn’t really had much to do with Zeke other than know they are just as influential in sub-cultures as the Psychos are. And I really wish I had looked more into their back catalogue, because they absolutely knocked everyone’s socks off in the front row and probably gave them a facelift with the intensity of their performance. I walked out of the photo pit and remarked to security, why haven’t I found this band before?
Zeke – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
During the intermission between Zeke and Cosmic Psychos I spoke with a few punters – one guy was down from Cairns with his mum to see them and you could see how stoked he was to see them. Mum was a fan from way back and had raised her son listening to “good Australian music”.
I don’t think I have every attended a Psychos gig where they come out and present themselves like other bands – they wander out, grab their instruments and play (as a photographer you then have to hustle as you have missed a third of a song by not paying attention). They opened with ‘Pub’ and then moved into ‘Nice Day to go to the Pub’ which I thought may have come further into the set, but no, they know this one gets the crowd going.
Cosmic Psychos – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
At this point I began to struggle to identify songs as the mix was terribly muddy, it would clear up later and to be honest, the crowd didn’t seem to care. You know we got ‘Thank Your Mother for the Rabbits’, ‘Dead in a Ditch’ and ‘Fuckwit City’ thrown in there. Considering that I have seen Cosmic Psychos multiple times and the last way I would describe a crowd that was watching them was sedate, the crowd was very sedate…low energy… still full of turkey from Christmas??
Cosmic Psychos – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
As abruptly as it began, it ended. Thirteen or so songs, no encore, despite many hopefuls hanging around in the theatre. Cosmic Psychos are an Australian institution, they have been around for 40 years, bassist and singer Ross Knight got bitten by a snake last week and got up there and did a tour no less, guitarist Macka needs a new pair of thongs that the dog hasn’t chewed and Dean played with all the flourishes and with the ‘fancy sticks’. Go and see them – I will guarantee you’ll have a great time watching three of the most disparate personalities in Australian punk making it work.
