25 February 2025 – The Station, Caloundra – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi – pictures by Martin Schmidt
It was a wild night of crowd surfing fans as the Californian live wires PENNYWISE and Swedish punk pioneers MILLENCOLIN, two of the all-time great 1990s punk bands, brought their co-headline Australian Tour to The Station in Caloundra. They also brought along Queensland punk guns Fake News to help deliver a fast and furious night of unforgettable classic punk rock mayhem and music.
The Station was at full capacity as the sold-out crowd started to build. It is a great location for seeing live bands with a fantastic stage and its spacious for fans. I have seen a few punk bands there and the venue suits the energy and style for big gigs that are still intimate enough to get that closeness to the bands and really feel the energy of the live music. I also realised that even if you head out for some air, the venue from outside to the stage is perfect.
But I started the evening inside the venue, up front and centre, to see the local band Fake News. Fake News opened the proceedings in true Queensland style to an eager crowd. The drummer came on stage like a bullet out of a gun and pounded the kit as the rest of band rushed on to the stage with full gusto to join him. They smashed out their opening song ‘Moving On’ one of their tracks from their 2024 EP Time And Place. This was the start of a high energy set and they launched into delivering their melodic punk songs such as ‘No Weakness’, ‘The Road’, ‘Warrior’ and ‘Brainwashed’. I have seen lots of gig promotion stickers and posters around South East Queensland for Fake News gigs. The band were really well received by their hometown fans.
Fake News – The Station – photos by Martin Schmidt
Fake News are a punk band with members who live around the base of Brisbane in the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. The band comprises of: Tim Russ (vocals), Darren Crowe (guitar), Mick Braszell (guitar), Nick Vanderkley (bass and vocals) and Nat MacDonald (drums). Their sound would be best described as a melting pot of punk, nu-metal, rock with a melodic hardcore style.
The set delivered by Fake News was a slab of punk rock goodness that perfectly captured the band’s good time spirit. The songs in the last part of the set were ‘Where We Stand’, the fabulous ‘BEER’, ‘Not Giving Up’ and ‘Broken Bones’. Fake News really gave the crowd something to smile about as they energetically ended their set.
As the stage was re-arranged for Swedish punk rockers MILLENCOLIN, fans relaxed and took a breath and some more beer. And, they would need it!
MILLENCOLIN are no strangers to Australian audiences but this was their first visit and performance on the Sunshine Coast. The Swedish rockers have been a permanent fixture in visiting Australia for many years, having massive chart success here with their breakthrough album Pennybridge Pioneers. They opened their set with the wonderful ‘Penguins & Polarbears’. The crowd in The Station had grown, the push to the front of the stage surged, and it was clear we were in for one hell of a gig.
Millencolin – The Station – photos by Martin Schmidt
MILLENCOLIN have been around now as a band for 30 years and they have an extremely polished sound and a killer stage presence. They also have the beer drinking between songs covered. The band is: Nikola Šarčević(bass and vocals), Mathias Färm (rhythm guitar), Erik Ohlsson (lead guitar) and Fredrik Larzon (drummer) and they have not released a bad record. And, their live performance was impressive.
Nikola Šarčević is such an unassuming front man with his bass (and occasional swap to a guitar) and he has an absolutely stunning voice. It absolutely floors you especially when the first vocal notes of ‘Da Strike’ are sung, and their skate punk classic songs ‘Fox’ and ‘Bullion’ sounded so fresh. The crowd of fans just adored ‘Fox’ and the energy in the venue shifted up a gear. Nikola Šarčević delivery of the impressive song ‘SOS’ from their most recent album was outstanding. MILLENCOLIN delivered a 16 song setlist that took the best from their large back catalogue. Their songs like ‘Fingers Crossed’, ‘Olympic’, ‘Man or Mouse’, ‘Sense & Sensibility’ and ‘Lozin’ Must’ were ripped through the high-octane speed. The guitarists Mathias Färm and Erik Ohlsson moved around the stage and really engaged with fans in the crowd. They brought an effortlessly cool to the gig and gave an absolutely crushing performance.
Millencolin – The Station – photos by Martin Schmidt
The crowd were really into MILLENCOLIN’s performance and the mosh pit went off and there was a constant stream of crowd surfers coming to the front. Even the security guards were enjoying the set and were singing and clapping along – in between – taking the crowd surfers over the barrier.
The back end of MILLENCOLIN’s set included songs ‘True Brew’, ‘Ray’, ‘The Ballad’, the crushed together mix of ‘In A Room / The Story Of My Life / Pain / Pepper’ and ‘Mr. Clean’. MILLENCOLLIN clearly intended to keep the energy sky high and didn’t intend to let up on the Sunshine Coast crowd, the band was totally in the moment and in their element. Then, the set ended with ‘No Cigar’ and the whirl wind that was MILLENCOLLIN ended. I really enjoyed MILLENCOLIN’s performance – they were fun and first-rate musicians.
Another short stage re-arrange, and more red lighting, was put into place and PENNYWISE took to The Station’s stage for a 15-song set which threw in two covers of the classic Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’ and a hilarious and fun cover of Men At Work’s ‘Down Under’ delivered with real class. PENNYWISE also mentioned that they are considering moving to Australia as they spend so much time here touring.
PENNYWISE certainly brough the energy – and a whole lot of chaos– and they really set the fans on fire from the first chords as they kick started their set with ‘My Own Country’ from their album Straight Ahead. They followed that with ‘It’s What You Do With It’ from 1995 album About Time. Then, ‘Who’s to Blame’ from 1991. The fans were about the taken on a rambling ride through PENNYWISE’s back catalogue and albums. After three songs, the venue was heaving and fans were either jumping, screaming along to the songs or crowd surfing at this point.
Pennywise – The Station – photos by Martin Schmidt
PENNYWISE are a band comprised of: Fletcher Dragge (guitar and vocals), Byron McMackin (drums and vocals), Jim Lindberg (lead vocals) and Randy Bradbury (bass and vocals). Their engagement with their fans was genuine. People had flown in from Newcastle, Sydney, New Zealand and other parts of the country to see them. There was a lot of love in the room for PENNYWISE.
This love for PENNYWISE’s uncompromising sound led to more crowd surfing (so many), moshing, drinks being thrown in the air, and the most incredible singalongs as the crowd knew and sang every lyric. When, PENNYWISE performed the cover ‘Stand By Me’ that they released in the 1990s. The crowd was so loud and had their hands in the air during the whole song.
PENNYWISE’s most impressive part of the gig was the delivery and talk around ‘Society’, ‘American Dream’, ‘Fuck Authority’ and ‘Perfect People’. The message was political but the band gave it straight about defending your rights. The singing and noise from the crowd as they sang these songs became deafening near the end of the gig.
Pennywise – The Station – photos by Martin Schmidt
PENNYWISE joked about age, how long they had been together as a band (a really long time) and they noted that: “We are no longer spring chickens, in fact we are old, but we can still dance”. And, that was the theme of the night: enjoy life, punk music before you can’t do it anymore.
PENNYWISE saved ‘Badge of Pride’ “Living 4 Today’ and the terrific ‘Bro Hymn’ as their last songs to close out the night. ‘Bro Hymn’ is the greatest set closer in punk rock history. No other track gets the crowd singing in unison the way this song does and it brings together the venue of inter-generational punk rock lovers. Before the gig started, I realised this was an all-ages gig. There were kids on the rail aged between 10 to 17 excited to see PENNYWISE and MILLENCOLIN. It was great to see the fans that grew up with the bands were bring out their kids to experience their music and live performances. For it is the next generation that will be the ones who are going to carry the torch for punk music to continue to live on.
Pennywise, Millencolin and Fake News were entertaining bands to experience live. PENNYWISE and MILLENCOLIN are comparable to fine whiskeys – the older they get – the better they are. It was a great night of punk music.
