Due to the decrease of venues for live music around Sydney, the Broadway 202 bar was tonight’s salvation for some of Sydney’s finest bands.

After a long overdue wait (of nearly three years) Dead Farmers are finally set to release their debut LP “Go Home” to much anticipation. Better yet, soul-punk favourites Royal Headache have just released their first 7” inch with both bands calling Sydney label R.I.P Society home. Send up Melbourne’s Dick Diver for a support slot and you’d probably be kicking yourself if you’ve missed out on this grade-A musical entertainment. 

Opening the evening with a laid-back set from Dick Diver only cements the opinion that they are one of Australia’s most exciting new bands. The group wear their Australian influences on their sleeves, with their catchy song writing sounding like a bunch of folks from Victoria kicking a beach ball around St. Kilda. The addictive lead lines and vocal melodies are a match made in heaven and display some of the most engaging duel guitar work in recent memory. Their music didn’t go under appreciated either; the crowd applauded, sung along and listened in awe to the sheer addictiveness of their songs. 

When it comes down to addictiveness though, few can rival the multiple listens required for just about every Royal Headache (above) song the band has written. Unfortunately, I had to work on the door during their set. But I gathered these descriptions from some of the other audience members “energetic, powerful and refreshing”, “girls screaming”, “lead singer Shogun losing his shirt”, “crowd demanding more”, “ferocious moshing”, “couples making out” and “a fist-pumping good time”. I’ve been lucky enough to see Royal Headache play many times around Sydney and I can clarify all of these descriptions are amazingly accurate. From sitting at the door towards the entrance I could hear all the soon-to-be classics “Girls”, “Elosie”, “Splash”, “Surprise, Surprise” and many more been blasted from the downstairs stage. I didn’t manage to see it, and if neither did you then we should both make it a top priority to see this band as frequently as possible in the near future. 

The heroes of the evening, however, were without a doubt Dead Farmers (below). Being the first band to release a 7” through Mikey Young’s (Eddy Current Supression Ring) label Arrght, fans have been eagerly awaiting the full LP for nearly three years. Thankfully, the boys got their shit together at last and you could tell it was worth the wait.

Ripping into signature tune “Son’s Of Thunder”, you could see why the group has such a dedicated following. Guitarist David Akerman literally rips his guitar and soaks out every inch of noise you could possibly imagine. Combined with screaming duel vocals, brutally stuck bass-lines and a heavy hitting drum beat by drum replacement Daniel Kowalski, at times it felt like there was at least three other members playing with the band. Whilst still sounding hugely lose and psychedelic, the constant live-shows and practices have obviously worked in their favour, because it sounded tighter and more alert than ever before.

This was Dead Farmers at their peak, and the crowd and fan base knew it. The only real tragedy of the night was not being able to buy their LP until my Centrelink payment went through on the following Tuesday.

Photos by Daryl Prondoso. Header photo from their Myspace page

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