15 June 2024 – Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
As their massive 20+ city It’s So Invasive… Tour nears it’s end, local Brisbane legends Regurgitator did their first of two Brisbane gigs at The Tivoli (second at sister venue The Princess) on Saturday night to a near sold out crowd, and we were lucky enough to be on hand to cover the shenanigans. Supporting Regurgitator on this night of chaos are Sydney based saxophone/drum two piece Party Dozen, and Brisbane party ravers Monster Zoku Onsomb!
Doors had been open for about an hour, before Monster Zoku Onsomb! took to the stage. And holy hell from the get go, I had no idea what was going on. But in the best way possible. The set was about 40 minutes of pure dance rave goodness. The crowd were super into it, and the members of the band even acknowledged how crazy the reception was, bordering on being mind blown at times as to the noise levels. Special shout out to the zombie/mummy/lace monsters(??) at the back. While the band’s performance was awesome. I couldn’t help but laugh at the backup dancers that honestly, defy any words I could muster to try describe them.
Monster Zuko Onsomb – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Party Dozen were not a band I expected to be what they were, if impressions were to be taken purely from their name. They didn’t make party music. Nor are there a dozen of them. It’s just saxophonist Kirsty Tickle and drummer Jonathan Boulet. But boy, did they rip. Two of my favorite instruments, in a band, and it’s just them? I’ve said for years rock and metal music needs more sax. Party Dozen is just more proof of that message. Some of the stand out tracks include ‘Macca the Mutt’, ‘Wake in Might’, and set closer, ‘The Iron Boot’. This might not be a band for everyone. But they are a band for me, and I absolutely loved it. Also, shout out to Jonathan Boulet. That man has to be one of the most insane drummers I’ve ever seen live. Keeping up with that speed and precision live cannot be easy. I don’t know how he was walking after the set.
Party Dozen – Tivoli – Photos by Bec Harbour
After another short break, Regurgitator made it onto the stage to an insane ovation, with ‘Weird Kind of Hard’ playing them on during the walk out. Festivities immediately kicked off with the title track off their 2024 record, Invader. This monster 27 song set was littered with old and new songs, with pretty much the entire Invader record being played live. After playing through Track 1, Quan introduced the audience to an unfamiliar face on the stage, touring multi-instrumentalist Sarah Lim, to kick into a classic Regurgitator song, ‘I Will Lick Your Asshole’, which had the entire crowd singing along to the chorus. Hearing nearly 1500 people sing the words “Asshole, I will lick your Asshole, I will lick your Asshole, I will lick your” gives me pure joy I never knew existed.
Regurgitator – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
The hits keep on coming, as we got ‘Bongzilla’ and ‘The World of Sleaze’, which was a crowd request apparently from someone named Lexie. Sarah also led the crowd wave to the chorus of the song too which was so fun. Guitarist Quan Yeomans quickly noted he broke a nail during the last song, and their “manicurist on standby” came out to fix his nail, before launching into new song ‘Wrong People’. Bassist Ben Ely then talked about donuts and the Queen Street Mall in the middle of Brisbane, as people started going mental, realising ‘Fat Cop’ was about to play. Ben talked about the new stuff, and played ‘Content’ from Invader, before then talking about the old stuff, and then playing ‘I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff’. It’s attention to details in the set like this that I love, and being only nine songs into the set, this show has been perfect so far.
We got the song ‘Dirty Old Men’, before playing another song about dirty old men called ‘Pest. Ben then started hyping up the next song as the hardest and fastest song of the night, and then played ‘Polyester Girl’. For those not in the loop, ‘Polyester Girl’ is probably the slowest song in the band’s entire catalog. Seeing fans be hyped for fast tunes, and then being even more hype for this song proves how much the fanbase loves this band. I don’t think any other song would get this level of love behind it had another band tried this joke. Ben mentioned an intermission was coming, before playing new song ‘Tsunami’, and throwback track ‘Kong Foo Sing’, before the lights dimmed for the intermission.
Regurgitator – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
‘The Bastard Poem That Nobody Wanted’ played over the speakers during the intermission, before the band returned to stage, adorned in black and white suits, playing ‘I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am’, to a thunderous ovation. They followed that on with ‘Blood and Spunk’, and a long clapping section where it felt like it went on forever. Super fun moment. The mood dimmed a little for ‘Cocaine Runway’, which felt like an 80s power ballad I didn’t even know they were capable of. Mountains played next, before we got probably my favourite part of the night, ‘Epic’. Regurgitator are a band that wear many hats, genre speaking. But ‘Epic’ was a song I never knew they were capable of. Quan has some crazy rap flow and I don’t know why he hasn’t tried to branch out into hip hop. But man this song slapped live.
Regurgitator – Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
The crowd entertained Ben for 40 seconds and at his request, clapped along to him singing ‘Pee Pee Man’, before they launched into ‘This is Not a Pop Song’. We got the band introductions before I Wanna Be a Nudist played, and the main set closed off with ‘! (The Song Formerly Known As)’. ‘!’ had the entire balcony jumping, to uncomfortable degrees. I’ve never felt the balcony at the Tivoli shake so damn much before. The band returned to encore with ‘Blubber Boy’, and a cover of ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ by Simple Minds to close out one of the most crazy and fun sets I’ve seen in the last twelve months, and definitely a contender for the best set of the year.
