Live Review: Skegss, Twin Peaks, Scabz

It’s not often that people turn up just to see the first band, but Scabz have given most of us good reason to. As the trio begin swinging things into motion with their bratty badassery, we’re jumping along to choruses that get stuck in our heads.

Gliding into their opening song with a storm of instrumentation, Twin Peaks take our attention away from the intermission and into their melodies as we shuffle between the bar and centre stage. Frontman Cadien Lake James tells us that “it’s nice to be in this city, man. It’s a nice place to be and seems like a good place to live,” which makes us smitten Melburnian’s even more appreciative of their performance. The Chicago five-piece have our bodies moving along to their catchy rhythms.

The sold-out venue doesn’t look like it’s going to hold us when Skegss strum into their opening song, Stop. By the end of the song, one bloke has already thrown his beer off the stage (kudos for switching to plastic cups) and fails a crowd surf. Another leather jacket floats above our heads which protrudes the stench of sweat and beer as one punter throws his drink into the crowd as we begin a circle pit for Paradise. 

Main vocalist Ben Reed slurs into the mic; “It’s suuuch a good time to be here starting the weekend!” and fuck yeah, it is! “Up the punx!” replies the leader of our circle pit when Skegss slide into their new title track, My Own Mess. From there on, their set becomes completely wild; Couch Party welcomes an inflatable lounge onto the stage, which inevitably bounces into our chaos. Some guy’s hanging from the rafters doing chin-ups, and there’s an entourage on stage wearing all the essential birthday accessories. 

Got On My Skateboard has us attempting to form a wall of death, which quickly simmers into a regular mosh pit. Bassist Toby Cregan has obviously had it as he proclaims; “Do you know anyone who can play? Cause I can’t play for shit!” before taking us into Margarita. The rest of their set is filled with our favourite songs and the classic “shooey” challenge onstage. “Oh, the hippy won…” Cregan’s disappointment leads into Spring Has Sprung, before our beloved Byron boys reign it in with Up In The Clouds.