I need to make a disclaimer before you read any further. This piece will just address the awesome talents of the bands that preformed at the Small Ballroom – being “Hey Lady”, “Paper Thin”, “Foley” and “The Hard Aches” on Friday the 14th of October and will not comment on what a select few unfortunately deemed to be appropriate gig behaviour.
Because there are a few (bloody idiot) punters that continue to tarnish our town’s name in the name of a false prophet of punk rock or whatever excuse they choose to use at the time. Because each and every band brought their best, and blew me away with their talent, zest for performing live and ability to just flipping kill it on stage.
I need to throw it out there that I will happily purchase Jess and Stef from local outfit ‘Hey Lady’ a beer in lieu of missing the beginning of their set. I walked into the Small Ballroom and attempted to carry out my pre gig routine. Find the entryway. Don’t drop my licence. Drop licence. Head to the bar. Buy a beer. Find spot. Nod head slightly off beat. But this time around I was stopped in my tracks. This onslaught of sound hit me as the collective known as ‘Hey Lady’ were knee deep into an incredible set. The local crowd had shown up early to savour each and every moment and as Jess and Steph ripped into tracks with the gusto of a band triple the size, I could see clearly see why. Both with shoes off, front of stage, they bloody killed it. I will never miss a set again.
Next up were local heroes and all round good guys ‘Paper Thin’. If you do not know them personally, change this. If you have not heard their music, stop reading this and also change this. (https://paperthinnewcastle.bandcamp.com/releases). These guys just keep kicking goals and crushing it on stage and I had many a moment mid set where I was so god damn proud to be a Novocastrian, I think I actually yelled out yeaaahh Newy (insert shuckas here) raising my beer as a chorus of “I am… 1028kms from home” rang out. Their cover of “Hey Jealousy” made my hopeless romantic heart explode, with frontman Spencer Scott’s ferociously on point vocals putting a real punk spin to this classic tune.
As the room started to fill, I realised that I actually hadn’t heard much of key supports, ‘Foley’ but hot damn the boys can play. Ridiculously fast paced, party punk kids who just loved doing what they do. Each track was jaunty and packed with raw energy resulting in a whole bunch of smiles from the band and gig goers alike. Each lyric packed a close to the bone punch masked by the unmistakable need to jump around to that skate punk sound. A personal note of thanks from me to you for playing “friends who are lesbian” you’re all rad. Please come back and grace our tiny town with your Melbourne sound.
The first time I saw the Hard Aches was when they supported the Bennies at the Small Ballroom late last year. It was the first time, in an incredibly long time, that I made a specific point of letting the band know how great they really were. If my memory serves me well, I’m pretty sure I said “please come back and play a headline show and take all of my money”. Ben gave me a Hard Aches patch, which is still attached to my vest almost a year later. After the release of their EP “I Freak Out” the boys, Ben and Alex, from Adelaide brought the goods to our town and played an incredible set. A truly humble and soft spoken guy on stage, Ben lead from the front, belting out hits like “Loser”, the title track “I freak out” and my personal favourite “Glad that you’re gone”.
It was great to see some of those in the crowd who had been dragged to the gig by their punk loving partners and/or best mates finally catching on the incredible sound of the Hard Aches. As soon as “Breakdown” began, these bewildered punters suddenly found themselves with beers in the air relishing in a chorus of “I don’t care about anything/well I just do anything”. The Hard Aches will forever be one of my favourite bands to see live, purely because of the way they conduct themselves on stage and how incredibly humble and wonderful they both are. Although sometimes their words fall on deaf (idiot punter) ears, the crux of “looking out for each other” is always at the forefront their gigs, which is incredibly important to me personally and to the majority of their fans who really just love their music.
If you didn’t catch the Hard Aches this time around, take the time to blast their new EP “I Freak Out” through your headphones and fill your body with ‘FOMO’ because the whole gig (band wise) was tops.
ABOUT LAURA
I’m Laura, and writing about our wonderful city is something I am oh so passionate about. You can find me tucked away in the corner of your local open mic night, taking in the sights with a local artist flowing through my headphones, or hanging out in the front row of your first gig where you’re debating whether the staff count as crowd members. Built on coffee, live music and punk nostalgia, I write about talented people doing talented things.
Twitter: @laurakebby
Instagram @laurakebby
