Gone are the days when a bunch of dudes could hang out in their garage, thrash some instruments, and at some point become successful musicians. Not.
LA rockers Fidlar are living proof that, in fact, old-school garage rock is still very much a thing, smashing out a high energy set at The Corner on Monday night as part of their visit for Splendour In The Grass.
Bluesy Ballarat band Apes began the night’s proceedings, the four-piece entertaining those who came early with their alt-rock sounds.
Brisbane’s Dune Rats were next to appear from behind the red velvet curtains, the indie surf-pop/rock threesome lifting the energy levels with their raw live sound.
In true old-school rock style, intense reverb on frontman Danny’s vocals often made the lyrics unclear throughout the 40 minute set, but the slowly filling room wasn’t fazed. They were there to get sweaty, rock out and have a good time.
After a short wait, the curtains opened right on cue and the foursome that is Fidlar began to make some odd sounds – seemingly noise just for the sake of noise.
As the ridiculously enthusiastic crowd immediately pushed forward and transformed into a raucous mosh pit, the headliners launched straight into one of their biggest hits, “Cheap Beer”.
Literally 20 seconds into the set, crowd surfing erupted from all corners of the room and continued throughout the hour-long show – resulting in many a shoeless punter upon completion.
If you thought the days of heavy rock or getting rowdy on a Monday night were over, think again. This leather-jacketed, ripped denim-vested and studded mob of fans were going all out.
It wasn’t just the audience that was there to get wild. The band also frequented the stage dives and crowd surf action, in particular bassist Brandon Schwartzel. He lost a string while being lifted above the crowd and also partook in the questionable tradition known as a “shoey” – where you drink beer from a shoe in one swooping, stinky motion.
Fidlar were overwhelmed by the audience on the night, constantly expressing their thanks for support and their surprise of such, considering this was their first ever headlining show in Australia.
However, they didn’t let a humble attitude override their ‘we don’t give a fuck’ attitude, kicking photographers out of the pit just two songs in. They constantly joked, saying after three songs “this is our last song”, and announcing “we’re called Fidlar. F. I. D. L. A. R.” spelling it out every time, as if making fun of other bands.
They weren’t shy about their drug habits either, speaking about how much rehab sucks and telling the crowd to “fuck school”, immediately proceeding with a song titled “Cocaine”. It’s as though Fidlar were born in the wrong era, clearly drawing their influences from the ‘70s and ‘80s hard rock scenes.
Undeniably though, Fidlar have impeccable talent – they’re damn good at what they do. They’ve picked a genre and 100% nailed it. The frontman with his roughed up, screaming vocals; a drummer that bashes it out like there’s no tomorrow; and some incredibly insane guitar riffs, this is old-school garage rock at its finest.
The curtains closed but the crowd begged for more, and just as the house lights and music came on, the longing screams won out and the foursome returned, finishing the night with a surprising cover of Blink 182’s “Dammit”.
If garage rock isn’t your thing or you weren’t in the mood to get your mosh on, then you’d certainly have found yourself in the wrong place at this show.
