Swedish hardcore punks Refused finally made it out to Australian shores with Soundwave Touring to dazzle the minds of their ever-so-patient Perth fans.
This was the first leg of their Australian tour, and one of the last tours the band will ever embark on before retiring at the end of the year.
Perth hardcore band Blkout were given the honour of supporting the ground breaking Scandinavians and took the role seriously.
With a heavy basslines, finely tuned guitars and one hell of a vocal growl, Blkout warmed the Perth crowd up with a decently long set at Metropolis Fremantle. They exclaimed how appreciative they were just to be seeing Refused, let alone to be supporting the music legends.
With clean and sustained riffs, the Beastie Boys-influenced outfit rocked the club with cuts off their record Point Of No Return as well as some fresh tracks, while the venue filled up.
By about 9.30, the club was filled to the brim with fans that had been waiting their whole lives to see a political band that has had a huge role in sculpturing hardcore punk/post-hardcore music of today’s era.
A black curtain with large ‘Refused’ letters cut out covered the stage allowing fans could see a glimpse of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén and the rest of the band as they appeared on stage. The hidden and mysterious men started playing the opening riff to “The Shape Of Punk To Come”.
After the first line of notes, the curtain collapsed, only to finally reveal the band in all their glory and in their finest form to date with the crowd screaming for them. The mosh pit was already a sea of heads and flailing arms as the crowd got completely lost in the music – mesmerised by these legends.
Lyxzén was going wild on stage – throwing the microphone stand in the air and effortlessly screaming the lyrics it seemed impossible that he could be able to maintain this level of momentum for the rest of the set – but he most certainly did.
After jumping straight into “The Refused Party Program”, Lyxzén took a second to announce “We are Refused from Sweden” going on to say “and we are angry anarchists”. The crowd simply went wild.
The Swedish punks delivered all the best rock anthems in this fine setlist including “Rather Be Dead” and “Protest Song ‘68” with fans getting wilder and wilder as the set continued. Lyxzén’s energy and charisma didn’t slow down whatsoever.
He put one speaker on top of another, climbed on top with his arms outstretched and jumped off as the track broke down.
Everyone deeply appreciated his banter between tracks and the entire band’s humble approach to the stage. Lyxzén acknowledged Perth’s isolation in the world and likened it to the town where the boys live in Sweden.
Refused kept the classics going and ironically played “Refused Are Fuckin’ Dead” among others whilst people jumped on stage only to stage dive and crowd surf throughout the set.
The musical community stood as one, looking out for each other on this magnificent night and embraced the instrumentally perfect music together.
Before leaving the stage Lyxzén engaged with the audience once more, reminding them that this “isn’t just some disco” and expressed his gratitude for the Refused fans and what it all represents in the grander scheme of things.
The band returned on stage one last time to blow the minds right out of the punters’ brains. The opening riff to “New Noise” was so energetic it caused the audience to erupt into a circle pit.
This legendary track demonstrated the power of Refused with an intense strobe light show throughout. Lyxzén thanked the crowd one last time before the Swedes left the stage to refuel before continuing their Australian tour.
