BAD RELIGION / NOFX

Metro City

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Between the oh-so-promising Grim Fandango and Compton’s Pour Habit (who are infinitely better live than recorded), tonight’s opening slots were filled well. As much as the headlining acts are worlds apart within the same genre, so too were the support acts. Grim Fandango’s Hot Water Music-meets-All approach sat on the more serious side of the fence (as do Bad Religion), and Pour Habit’s speedy / fun take on ’90s SoCal punk rock was an ideal precursor to NOFX.

Actually, the ideal precursor to NOFX was their very clever idea of opening their set with a rendition of Heart And Soul, which had the entire crowd singing along and grinning from ear-to-ear as El Hefe blasted out the famous main melody through his trumpet. And, from there, NOFX just ruled the night.

NOFX’s setlist proudly didn’t include any of the same songs it did on their previous tour, though was filled with the kind of piss-taking tomfoolery one would expect from the San Franciscans. Kill All The White Man got an early billing, and was joined by other classics like Stickin’ In My Eye and Soul Doubt; but it was the new material that really got the crowd going. NOFX Are Racist, But They’re Funny was the night’s highlight: an ‘I say, I say, I say’-style comedy number that meshed interracial racism (between the band’s Hispanic and Jewish members) with a slapstick comedy soundtrack. I Hate The Bloody Queen (with its rotating follow-up lines of ‘kick her in the cunt / punch her in the face / fuck her in the face’ etc) further added to the hysterical hijinx, and by the time NOFX walked off stage, they’d well and truly stolen the show.

Though, clearly not content with metaphorically stealing the show, Fat Mike was to later reappear on-stage during Bad Religion’s 21st Century Digital Boy, much to the shock and amusement of Bad Religion themselves.

Other than that, Bad Religion’s set was a well-oiled machine, with songs coming back-to-back with almost no interruptions. Aside from a few choice cuts from New Maps Of Hell, Bad Religion traced back through their catalogue a little deeper than last time. Essential tracks still got played of course, but the set was a real treat for anyone who has seen Bad Religion more than once before. It wasn’t the best Bad Religion performance Perth has seen, but (like all of them) it was stunning. On the flipside, NOFX’s show will undoubtedly go down as their best so far in our town.

As a double-header, this was the best of both worlds. NOFX brought the fun, and Bad Religion brought the intensity. Both equally important bands in their own right, as well as being fans of one another; this was a match made in heaven.

Well, a shirtless, sweaty and stinking version of heaven at least.

_MIKE WAFER