In my experience, going to see punk bands play is always worth it. It’s never boring going to see this sort of thing. So when I heard that a half-dozen of them were coming to our fair city to blast a selection of its inhabitants with punky-goodness, I was pretty sure that I would be in the crowd somewhere.
Stylistically, the various bands on offer all fall somewhere on the punk spectrum, but each one brought their own unique flavour to show – there are after all, so many excellent permutations of the “fast and loud” aesthetic. All the bands were great – Bonecruncher were rifftastic and heavy as heck, and Rogernomics were strangely entrancing in a relentless, brutal sort of way. But if I had to choose a favourite for the night, it would be The Dilfs, who played a short and sharp set of reckless party songs, and genuinely seemed to be having loads of fun doing it.
The Nivara Lounge saw a decent turn-out by local standards, which is good to see as this is not always the case for Hamilton shows. I’m still not entirely convinced about this place being a reliable venue for this sort of music – with that low, boxy ceiling, loud bands can tend to sound “rather loud” and kinda washed-out at times. I noticed this being a problem during Bonecruncher’s set, when I couldn’t actually hear what one of the guitar players was doing at all.
On the whole however, it was a most excellent show, and an excellent way to spend a Friday night – a ripping good time was had by all. Be sure to check out these guys on Bandcamp if you missed it! SB