5 December 2022 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Scott Sutton – pictures by Luci Scott
On Monday night the Tivoli hosted an energetic mix of interstate and international punk acts.
First up was Something Something Explosion, a trio that made the trip up from Victoria. Their sound ranges from poppy to heavier punk, with their track ‘Motor Mouth’ at times sounding like a punk version of Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’.
Something Something Explosion pairs danceable music with meaningful lyrics. Vocalist Grace Drummond introduced one of the band’s newer songs by saying ‘The moral of the story is please don’t let people treat you like shit’.
The highlight of the band’s time was getting to experience Drummond’s vocal range, which is even more powerful live than it is on the band’s recordings.By the end of the set, Something Something Explosion won over the smallish crowd that had filtered in early—if they’re on the bill for any shows you attend in the future, it’s well worth getting there a bit early to take them in.
Next up was another Victorian Trio, Melbourne’s Drastic Park. This act gave punters another solid half hour of pop-punk despite having to muddle through a succession of equipment and issues throughout the set.
The defining aspect of Drastic Park’s set was the effort and intensity they put into overcoming the glitches, and still sounding pretty damn good. I’d be keen to see them again to see what they can do when everything’s going their way
The standout song from the Drastic Park’s set was ‘Lost’—it has pop punk anthem-y energy and was a crowd favourite. ‘Nostalgia’ was another fun track where the rhythm section got a chance to take centre stage.
Finally, punk mainstays Millencolin took to the stage to play their 30 year anniversary setlist. I’ve been listening to Millencolin for about a decade but had never seen them live. I don’t know what they put in the water in Sweden, but I was amazed at the energy and enthusiasm they poured into every minute of their stage time.
Millencolin asked the fans to help build their 30 year anniversary setlist and came to the table with songs from as far back as 1994’s Same Old Tunes album, all the way up to SOS and ‘Nothing’ from their latest release. It can’t be an easy task to relate to lyrics written 30 years ago, but Nikola Šarčević attacked the classics like ‘Mr. Clean’ with the same passion and urgency as their most recent work.
It can’t be easy to craft a setlist that will send everyone home happy when there’s hundreds of songs to choose from, but judging by the crowd response Millencolin nailed the assignment. The crowd singalongs were loudest for the post-2000 tracks, but every time the band launched into a deeper cut, the excitement from the die-hards in attendance was electric.
‘Happiness for Dogs’ was one of the standouts from the set, both in performance and crowd reaction. ‘Man or Mouse’ had the Tivoli buzzing with the audience’s ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s almost drowning out the band.
Towards the end of the set, the band put a cool twist on ‘The Ballad’— Šarčević played the first half of the song solo with just just vocals and guitar, building up the tension and leading up to a cathartic moment when the rest of the band joined in for the second half.
In a nod to us oldies that were in the audience, Millencolin was kind enough not to make us wait around long for an encore, and put together a mini ‘greatest hits of our greatest hits’ run of ‘Penguins & Polarbears’, ‘True Brew’, ‘Duck Pond’ and ‘No Cigar’ that sent everyone home buzzed and happy.
Millencolin still brings the heat after 30 years as a band, and based on their performance on Monday I’ve got no doubt that their 40 year anniversary tour in 2032 will hit just as hard.
Setlist:
Kemp
Bullion
Sense & Sensibility
Happiness for Dogs
SOS
Ray
Fox
Man or Mouse
Dance Craze
Botanic Mistress
Nothing
Lozin’ Must
The Ballad
Brand New Game
Olympic
Pepper
Mr. Clean
Encore
Penguins & Polarbears
True Brew
Duck Pond
No Cigar
