17 September 2026 – The Leichhardt Hotel, Rockhampton – words and pictures by Brad Fry
The Frenzal Wagon rolled up to The Leichhardt Hotel on Thursday night in Rockhampton, both literally and metaphorically. Back in 2001, Channel [V] gave viewers the chance to win a late 1970s Holden Kingswood decked out in full Frenzal Rhomb regalia, Frenzal’s old tour wagon. The challenge was to come up with the most creative thing that could be hiding in the glove box. The winner was an 18 year old from Rocky, and the Frenzal Wagon became her first ever car. More than two decades later, the wagon, a punk rock chariot if ever there was one, was out and about in Rockhampton, and, so were Frenzal themselves.
The Frenzal Wagon – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
There’s something particularly great about seeing Australian punk music in a regional pub. Maybe it’s the intimacy. Maybe it’s the lack of separation between band and crowd. Or maybe a room like The Leichhardt Hotel simply feels like the natural habitat for loud guitars, questionable jokes and a few hours where nobody is particularly interested in behaving themselves.
Whatever the reason, Rockhampton was ready!
With Frenzal Rhomb headlining a bill featuring ANTY and Rockhampton’s own Viper Snatch, there was a nice cross section of Australian music on offer. A familiar face doing things his own way, a local band getting its chance on a big hometown bill, and a band that has spent decades refining the art of not growing up.
First up was ANTY, the solo project of Anthony “Anty” Horgan from The Bennies. Taking to the stage solo and working with backing tracks, ANTY mixed reggae and hip hop with the punk attitude that has always run through his music. It was so out of place on a punk bill that somehow it fitted perfectly. As Anty explained, punk and reggae have always shared that same desire to question authority and fight the man. Different sounds, same attitude.
ANTY – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
There was also a genuine full circle moment in being there. Anty told the crowd that the first show he ever went to was a Frenzal Rhomb gig, an experience he said changed his life. Now here he was, years later, opening for the same band in a pub in Rockhampton. Funny where music can take you.
There’s an easy unpredictability to ANTY that makes it difficult to tell exactly where the performance ends and the conversation with the audience begins. Songs, stories and crowd interaction all became part of the same thing. At one point even drinks were being swapped between Anty and the crowd, breaking down whatever small barrier remained between the stage and the people standing in front of it. The whole set had the feeling of hanging out with a particularly entertaining mate who just happened to have been handed control of the stage and the PA.
That looseness worked. Opening slots can sometimes feel like everyone is politely waiting for the main event, but ANTY made himself part of the night immediately.
For Viper Snatch, this one was different. This was home. The Rockhampton trio walked onto The Leichhardt stage almost humbly. Then they exploded.
Viper Snatch – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
Viper Snatch are a powerhouse trio, and once they kicked into gear there wasn’t much wasted space in their sound. Thundering bass sat underneath powerful vocals, pummelling drums drove everything forward and cutting guitar tore across the top of it all. Three people. A hell of a lot of noise.
There was no sense of the band being there simply to fill the space between ANTY and the headliner. They attacked their slot with purpose, at times making the small Leichhardt stage look even smaller as they threw themselves into the performance.
And being the hometown band mattered. There was plenty of local support in the room and that connection between band and crowd gave the set another gear. These weren’t strangers trying to win over a room. This was a Rocky band playing to its own people on a bill alongside one of Australian punk’s most enduring names.
By the end of it, Viper Snatch hadn’t simply prepared the room for Frenzal Rhomb. They had carved out their own part of the night and shown exactly why having a Rocky band on a bill like this matters.
Then it was time for Frenzal, and, there was no easing into it. From the moment the band hit the stage, whatever personal space remained inside The Leichhardt quickly began to disappear.
Frenzal Rhomb – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
Frenzal Rhomb have been doing this long enough that nobody should be surprised by what follows, yet the combination still works. Short, fast songs. Ridiculously tight musicianship. A crowd ready to throw every word back at the stage. And enough piss taking between songs to occasionally make the music feel like the interruption.
The whole band were, unsurprisingly, in fine form, the stories and banter across the stage were top shelf all night. Very little seems safe from commentary at a Frenzal show. The venue, the crowd, each other and themselves can all become targets. It gives the gaps between songs the same unpredictability as the songs themselves. More importantly, it makes the show feel connected to the people standing in the room rather than simply another stop on a tour.
Frenzal Rhomb – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
Then the music fires up again and everyone remembers why they’re here. The crowd was wild. Choruses were shouted back at the stage, bodies bounced around the room and the pit kept moving as people moshed, sang and generally had a ball. There was an immense amount of love travelling in both directions, from the crowd towards the band and straight back again. Frenzal clearly wanted to be there, and Rocky clearly wanted them there.
Despite having a stage that offered very little room to work with, the band were all over it. There was movement everywhere, adding to the feeling that the whole thing was just barely being contained by the walls around it. At one point even the snare drum decided it had endured enough and broke. If anything, a busted snare seemed perfectly at home in the middle of a Frenzal Rhomb show.
Frenzal Rhomb – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
For all the apparent chaos, though, it’s easy to overlook just how tight this band is. Songs disappear almost as quickly as they arrive. Stops hit exactly where they need to. Guitar tears through the room while the rhythm section keeps everything charging forward. There’s barely time to process one song before the next one is underway. Underneath the jokes, irreverence and sense that the whole thing could wander off the rails at any moment is a band with complete command of what it’s doing.
And that’s why Frenzal Rhomb continue to work. There’s no need to overthink it. Put them in a pub, turn everything up, squeeze a crowd in front of them and let the whole thing loose. The songs hit hard, the jokes land and the room moves.
Frenzal Rhomb – The Leichhardt Hotel – photos by Brad Fry
But the night was bigger than just the headliner. From ANTY doing things entirely his own way to Viper Snatch representing their hometown on the same stage as Frenzal Rhomb, the whole bill was a reminder that original Australian music doesn’t begin and end in the capital cities. It is being written, played and screamed out in places like Rockhampton too.
On Thursday night, it was everywhere inside The Leichhardt. In the pit. On the stage. Shouted back in choruses. Flying around the room with every guitar hit. Written across the sweat coated faces of punters who had spent the night throwing themselves into it. Still loud. Still fun. Still gloriously stupid at times. And still more than capable of causing absolute havoc.
For a few hours inside The Leichhardt Hotel, Australian music was alive and kicking. If only we could have all piled into the Frenzal Wagon afterwards and driven off into the sunset. Growing older, perhaps. Growing up? Not a chance! Go Frenzal Go!
