20 January 2024 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures by Bec Harbour
It’s another Saturday in Brisbane and I’m off to go have my ears blasted with some music. This time I’m off to the Princess in the Gabba to have a look at 3 bands, 2 of which I haven’t heard before!
Tonight’s line up is Mitch, Please, a local act playing their own brand of punk. After that we have Party Dozen, more punk but in the style of a saxophone and drum kit fleshed out by a sampler. And last but not least is OFF! From the good old US of A.
Starting off with Mitch, Please. I really didn’t know what to expect with these guys and gals but I found out soon enough. These mob don’t seem to take themselves too seriously and just wanna play music and have fun. That’s what it’s all about anyway right? Watching lead singer Polly get around in her leotard and behave like a naughty teenager was cool, especially when she joined the circle pit and didn’t seem to miss a beat. The bouncers were not prepared either and I felt amused at them trying to deal with this…all in all a good show despite some gear woes. Oh another thing, I wasn’t expecting the growling vocals – I had to look to see if one of the boys had got on the mic to help with this… ha!
Mitch, Please – Princess Theatre – photos by Bec Harbour
Next up was Party Dozen from Sydney. So they have a saxophonist/vocalist screamer up front and a drummer up back with a sampler. There’s also a lot of effects pedals so sax player Kirsty can show you what a sax sounds like through a wah! To be honest I had only heard of them and their music so I have no idea what songs were what because I couldn’t find a set list at the time of writing this , but I was very impressed. They are labelled a noise rock outfit, and that’s enough for me. If you like bands like Chrome or Big Black for example, I’d think this may be up your alley. I know I will make it a point to try to catch them again when they come back. Again very impressive!
Party Dozen – The Princess – photos by Bec Harbour
So last was OFF! And they went off, they ripped through a decent set and frankly I am glad I went. They played tunes from across their 4 albums OFF! The First Four EPs, Wasted Years and the latest, Free LSD. Some early highlights were ‘War above Los Angeles’ a song about a UFO seen flying over LA and how typical, the Americans tried to shoot it down… Other tunes were ‘Circuitry’s God’, ‘Kill to be Heard’, ‘Slice of the Pie’ and ‘Muddy the Waters’.
OFF! – The Princess – photos by Bec Harbour
The show didn’t let up and it was on from go to whoa. I read some where that this latest album has some songs regarding conspiracy theories, and I’m not surprised, the amount of punk people who preach some form of conspiratorial theology whilst the rest of us so called ignorant folks go about life in ignorant bliss astounds me. I dunno who is worse the fundamental religious people or the enlightened reddit users… anyway rant aside, OFF! played more tunes and I was having a blast. At one point Keith gave a short spiel regarding Israel and the USA’s involvement in the conflict taking place overseas but other than that it was really the music that did all the talking. More songs, ‘Worst is Yet to Come’, ‘Keep your Mouth Shut’, and ‘Peace or Conquest’.
OFF! – The Princess – photos by Bec Harbour
To round out the night they ripped through ‘Panic Attack’, ‘I Don’t Belong’, ‘Upside Down’ and ‘Poison City’. Overall it was a good chunk of punk rock and I was stoked to see old school skateboard pro Mario Rubacalba on the drums.
It was a muggy night and frankly this weather can OFF! Spending it inside in some aircon listening to some great music was very much welcome.
