It’s hard to understand how Spring King and Beach Slang ended up co-headlining a Splendour sideshow. While Beach Slang has found a following with an evergreen brand of shoutalong pop-punk, Spring King have made a name with the sort of garage inflected post-punk that Kasabian and The White Stripes were making in the early 2000’s.
What unites the pair is a reverence for live music. Spring King have long been thought of as a must see live band, and Beach Slang set highlight Noisy Heaven is itself an ode to the gig as a religious experience. It was certainly strange to see these two bands on the same bill but it was hard to complain about it.
Opening act Food Court stomped through a set of treble heavy punk for a small group of early arrivals. When the crowd failed to fill up by the time Spring King took the stage, it became apparent why sharing a gig between two bands with different audiences might not be such a good idea.
Spring King blew through their hook-laden set, the sheer joy they took in performing impervious to the muted reaction of the half full venue. The band played with the frenetic energy they’re known for, every member manning a microphone and head-banging throughout. Though the audience warmed by the end of their set, it wasn’t enough to stop lead singer Tarek Musa from asking the crowd “how many of you have heard of us?”
By the time Beach Slang took the stage, the Corner had filled up substantially. Announcing their intention to “punch you in the heart,” the band launched quickly into early EP highlight Filthy Luck. They worked seamlessly through a 40-minute set of original material before breaking into a series of sloppy covers and crowd interactions. After faking through a medley of crowd-requested punk jams and bringing up a member of the audience to play drums behind P.Diddy’s Bad Boy 4 Life, the band closed with another early track, Punk or Lust. Though Beach Slang’s punk anthems went over well, most of the crowd didn’t seem to take the same joy in the messy interaction as the band did.
Though both Spring King and Beach Slang were great they did not get the reaction they deserved. Live punk rock in all its forms demands a committed crowd, and the mixed group that assembled for this odd pairing could not become one.
BY TIERNAN MORRISON
LIKED: The stellar lineup
DISLIKED: The vibe
DRANK: Carlton
