A Wednesday evening support act might usually draw an ordinary crowd, but when a night kicks off with the Cosmic Psychos, everyone’s there to stomp a foot and raise a stubby. Knighty, Macca, and Dean took the audience by the scruff of the neck with a couple of deadset classics in Pub and Nice Day to Go the Pub. Dean’s drumming was as effortless as ever, cruising through a repertoire of punk rock fills and stick tricks (bouncing the odd stick over to Macca for an attempted catch).
Knighty kept the crowd work to a minimum and the fuzz to a maximum. Asking where on Earth we were, Macca launched into Fuckwit City and probably earned himself the onstage ciggie. The blokes you can trust finished with Go the Hack and She’s a Lost Cause – fans now prepped for the raucous onslaught that was to come.
Jennifer Finch led her bandmates onstage and introduced them as “L-Grab ‘em by the pussy-Seven.” A timely jibe that saw the hard women proudly fly the punk rock flag. They launched into Deathwish and Donita Sparks’ guitar had all the crunch you can handle – and the rest. Suzi Gardner’s vocal was more like a guttural howl at times and she tore fans a new one whenever she growled. The crowd surfing began with the shout of “People like you just fuel my fire,” and it didn’t stop until the last note.
The set was packed with the biggest tracks from Bricks Are Heavy and Hungry For Stink, with just a couple off the debut record Smell the Magic. Suzi took a quick editorial break to let us all know how cute it is that we spell ‘tyre’ with a ‘y’. Not an overstatement – drummer Demetra Plakas has a force that will burst drumheads and break sticks at a second’s notice. She’s also one of the more infamous drummers as the band once auctioned her off for a one night stand with a lucky punter.
L7 played hard and fast. And Donita Sparks proved again and again that she’s no rock chick. She’s a rock star of the highest bloody order. Thank fuck for the earplugs.
Words by Naj
Photo by Zo Damage
Loved: Pretend We’re Dead.
Hated: School nights.
Drank: Lemmys.
