iBrisbane 7 October 2009
Review By Jose Eduardo Cruz

Click the image to view the photo gallery [Photo: Jose Eduardo Cruz]

This rather cold Wednesday night presented itself as an interesting proposition from the start. It would have been safe to assume that if you had decided to set up a hair spray stall just outside the venue you would have made a handsome profit. Or perhaps spiked bracelets and belts may have also pocketed you enough for a six pack of beer. This is a nostalgic night for many of the punters present tonight trying to relive past experiences from faraway places and long gone times. I had the pleasure of speaking to two such fans that could not contain their enthusiasm over what this meant to them. One had seen UK Subs 30 years ago before he migrated to Australia. The other saw them 15 years ago and duly noted the aging process that had taken a hold of Charlie Harper. Such is the life of a legendary trend setter.

Onto Charlie Harper; what a personality, he spent about one hour walking around The Zoo signing autographs and posing for photographs. Not one person was denied their opportunity to spend a few minutes with this punk legend. He didn’t just sign his name onto a piece of paper, he took the time to personalise each request. Some received small portraits, others miniature essay, all containing the punk attitude that defines the night.

It must be noted that it is close to a sell out crowd tonight, a Wednesday night in Brisbane! Such is the pulling power of these legendary punksters. UK Subs jump on stage and immediately the pit starts to rumble. The multiple Mohawks amongst the crowd begin to become a health hazard, but not a deterrent to dance. Obligatory crowd surfers appear like clockwork and even some stage divers that long ago became an endangered species. This is a huge set list of nearly 30 songs delivered with high intensity that puts to rest the notion that oldies can’t rock out. Have you ever seen a fifty year old man jump up into the middle of the air while holding a guitar and land doing the splits? Amazing to see such energy still present even after so many years in the industry.

An encore was in order and rightly delivered. Partially losing his voice due to faulty fold backs, Charlie thanks everyone for yet another great night in this Australian tour and with a croaky voice launches into the last three songs of the night.

After appropriating the set list I jump off stage and deliver a present to the fan that first saw UK Subs in 1979. With much delight he accepts the present and thanks me for a memento that will be framed and placed in a safe place as a reference to such an excellent night.

This may be the last time we see them, but it doesn’t really matter because tonight was good enough to be a goodbye show.

By Jose Eduardo Cruz

RAISED BY WOLVES,   THEGO SET, 
  MOUTHGUARD,  BLOWHARD, SPITFIRELIAR

A familiar sound barrages from pillar to post inside The Jubilee as Spitfireliar unleash their brand of 'alcohol induced punk rock'. Vocalist Mouldy is traditionally swigging form his beer jug, while bassist Mung takes every opportunity to unleash an on-point bass solo. Hardcore rhythms and vocals from drummer Toddy drive the  already-on-their-feet audience to show their appreciation by raising their glasses and screaming along to SFL's anthemic signature track 'Alcohol'.

Anyone order an over-sized ten-piece with six raging horns? From the get-go, ska driven geniuses Blowhard propel the Jubilee into skank central. The contents of the venue appear to triple, as all those from outside excitably run stage front and centre to join in the festivities. Upbeat rhymes and lyrical comedy ensues with the Jube sweatbox hitting fever pitch, proving ska-punk is alive and very well indeed.

Veterans of the local and international punk scene, Mouthguard take this opportunity to blast through material from their most recent recording One More Round 'Gonna Go All The Way' and 'Eye For An Eye' ring out in true punk style and are greeted with mass affirmation and support from the well established Mouthguard family. Leading from one honest punk riff to the next, the band rage through their set, executing an impressive cover the Rose Tattoo's 'Nice Boys.'

The faint sound of The Go Set bagpipes becomes more intense as the piper unexpectedly arrives at the back of the venue and marches through the crowd to join his fellow band mates. A wall of sound erupts and disappointingly the pipes are drowned in the sound of TGS at full throttle. Vocalist Justin Keenan is as sweat drenched as the audience as they finish their set in high spirits.

Raised By Wolves struggle with sound levels as they make their mark with enough clout to raise the curiosity. Blues-infused guitars and a style not too far from Bad Religion herald tonight's show coming to end all too quickly

Sarina Quinlan....

PUNKFEST: HATEFUCK / TEAM DICKHEAD /
SCRATCH N SNIFF / ANGER IN MOTION /
PLAN OF ATTACK / POSTAL DISCRETION
Fri Ang 29.

After being given the bum steer by a bouncer and for a moment
genuinely believing that the crowd of collared shirt and dress wearing
30-somethings were at the Jube tonight to see a punk show,
I venture upstairs to find the spot where the umpteenth Punkfest is
taking  place.

Opening tonight, Postal Discretion are propelled with a sonic
intensity lead by swift drumming and tight, quick guitars. Their
obvious enthusiasm and enjoyment extends to the small, milling
crowd.

Next, five peice Plan of Attack take to the carpeted area serving
as a stage. Plan of Attack's set is an unashamed offering of oi! punk
that, thanks to the dual guitarists sounds quick and heavy.

Before heading to Europe and playing dates with the likes of Discharge(!)
West End's Anger in Motion inpart one last killer set to the Brisbane
punters. Playing mostly from their retrospective album Reliverance,
the band sound tight and lean during cuts like Treason and
That was Then, the band's combination of punk and subtle metal influences
has not sounded more potent.

Melbourne's Scratch N Sniff  proceed to extrapolate the metal
influences introduced tonight by A.I.M. The band's metal guitar
scales and breakdowns are offset by blistering punk drumming that
makes Scratch N Sniff's thrash attack so deadly.

Team Dickhead's grind-influenced old school hardcore whips the
 crowd into a frenzy. Here tonight to launch their second album,
T.D.H. are relentless and have a visceral ferocity that cannot be
communicated on tape. Their set seems too short.

Closing out tonight Hatefuck's late set is as intense as their name is
nonsensical. Wearing a Casey Jones (the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
character, not the band) hockey mask, vocalist Terry makes an impression
that won't be easily erased.

Tonight's show serves as another example of the always enjoyable,
always kickarse Punkfest shows.

JAMES STAFFORD. Rave Magazine

Live at the Royal Exchange...packed to the lids, JET BLACK had just been asked what was the feelings of the band about drugs...he said ’’we love em, what do you feel?’’.
The A.B.C. tried to delete them from countdown but MOLLY [to his credit] refused to alter the format. It was 1978 [I think august.]

V2 [Peter] spits repeatedly on Jean Jaques Burnell...he tells him quite clearly that it’s a filthy act and he should stop.
He continues...without warning Jean raises his bass guitar and cracks old PEDRO across the head. splits him and knocks him cold .

The band plays on, they were stunned by the fact that JOE BJELKE PETERSON has allowed the nuclear ship [Stallwart ] to enter Brisbane port when the entire world has refused them access to water /fuel and provisions....JOE allows them to actually dock and alight on to AUSSIE soil.
5 months later they write ’’NUCLEAR DEVICE’’...NOW LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY TO THE LYRICS...UNMISTAKENLY WRITTEN ABOUT BRISBANE 1978..

12 months later, standing on ADELAIDE street discussing this with PELEGRO from the DEAD KENNEDY’S...COPS HEAR HIS ACCENT AND ASK HIM TO SPREAD EM.. headlock, ankle kick and bloody nose.

ANDY NEIL from the local radio station, 4zzz apologizes on behalf of BRISBANE and hands him a pineapple as a welcoming gift. The copper warns that it is a dangerous weapon if used aggressively. PELEGRO sticks it under his t’shirt and says ’’well then out of mind..."

As everybody who attended the hearing on Monday in 169 George street knows.... he appeared charged with .......wait for it......’’concealing a dangerous weapon’’....

this caused the DEAD KENNEDYS to return to BRISBANE and play 3 more shows ,they played under KARENS house at spring hill...free ,we could not believe it, we took turns guarding the street so we could hide the band amongst the crew if the cops came...word got out and you couldn’t walk in that street. Cops did come but knew us and thought we were trouble....................................they were fuck’n dead right.

yes CATH ....I have so much more to tell mate.The story of HAMMISH and his unused RAMONES ticket is a classic.

We had a gun pulled on us at the front of festival hall. HAMMISH was wanted for stealing a car battery, we were in a Fairlane passing the weed from one to the other as they searched us.

The cops saw CAMERON do the fling, gun came out, girls screaming and ducking.

COPPER IS SHAKING WE ARE FEALING VERY INSECURE. ''Which one is HAMMISH''  ... get down get down ''this is a direct police order ''face down...face down''..

SWANBO takes a swing at the fucker and knocks him to the wall of Elizabeth Street. CAMERON grabs up the weed and takes the foot.

COP regains himself and 5 more appear at the base of the ramp. Grabs PUPPET in a full headlock [bad move, Southside undefeated kick boxer] swings copper clean over the top of his head and stands on him...

Coppers freaking, guns out. A sow grabs VEGY by the hair and tries to bring him down, PUPPET flicks out a left kick, pistol soars through the air, spinning...
Lands in the middle of Elizabeth Street, cop goes to retrieve it.  HAMMISH head butts the fucker - I got blood in my eye.

We came 30 miles to see the RAMONES no cunt is gonna spoil tonight .We've had enough of these fuckers ...all shit breaks loose, CAMERON appears at the top of white chairs he has about 9 SALISBURY lads with him, Gun fires but misses,15 people in a pile up cops and punks all running  for the .45.

Taskys are not here yet.

VEGY flies into a rage and 3 cops try to hold him, ''sheena is a punk'' is coming out of the Fairlane stereo.

PUPPET picks up the sow, clean off her feet and hurls her at the other 2 cops trying to get to their feet. Crunch of skulls and bone.

The crowd are not allowed pass outs and are coagulating in the foyer of Festival Hall, Security disappear inside. ]

We look up to see the tasky's side sliding their patrol car onto the footpath...

problem is..........now CAMERON'S got the gun. Insert 20 cents for the rest of the story he he he......

This is a letter I got recently, it's a bloody good read:

We were feisty fucks
who decided to dig in and take the ''task force '' HEAD ON/there was about a hundred of us. We would go out in groups and stick together as witnesses,...JACK BOOTS JOH, stunned the world by pulling a post Nazi ruling on his secret police [THE TASK FORCE]..they wore no uniform, and they could arrest and imprison for 24 hours any group of 3 or more.
It was a bylaw from the TORRIES [we were directly influenced by ENGLAND not AMERICA like Howard has done........we were ENGLISH SONS/GRANDSONS....and SCOTS , a lot of them were SCOTS.
THEY HAD NO PROBLEM MAIMING YOU, NO FUCK'N PROBLEM WHAT SO EVER....SO WE WENT UNDERGROUND AND HARDER.
you would role up for court Monday morning and they would openly laugh in ya face...cops/prosecution corps ...AND when you got inside the friggen magistrate would treat you like a joke. We adopted the pommie practice of temporary piercings, a row of safety pins stuck just under the surface of the skin, normally a row going down, not sideways 'cause they got ''caught '' easy. A line down the neck or through the corner of the mouth connected by a chain to your earring.  A few had nose rings but we didn't know how to do it properly, and mostly infection would force removal. We wanted to shock these fuckers and get right up their noses. ZZZ was great, coded messages would go out, we would find where to link up, cause we could only go in groups of 3.The boys from Salisbury, wrote this trippy little song with a siren as a solo, they were going to press it, and we were ready like a front of focused power and anger at our broken bones and pride.
The band was RAZAR and the song was TASKFORCE.
The first night in the chicken sheds at Spring hill, dickheaded V2 [an amphetamine SCOT, fuck'n delirious.] threw a bessa block through The go betweens drum kit, we hated them cunts, they really sucked. But V2 had gone too far, it had cut LINDYS wrist and she was really distressed, a fight broke out and poured on to the street, RAZAR never got to play, but The TASKFORCE were poised and waiting outside at about 10 o'clock.

It was total utter pandemonium,

Cops, everywhere. The tasky's had several sets of handcuffs they'd cuff and push to the ground...cuff and push to the ground. If you tried to stand they'd kick you in the face, women...everyone. They pulled us to the divvy's backwards by the handcuffs and threw us on top of each other the girls sometimes at the bottom, there was blood everywhere, one bloke had jumped from the second story and snapped his thigh bone he was screaming and this tasky said ''bite the pain ya fuck'n wimp''. girls were grouped together refusing to be man handled by the male cops. They sent in the sows...the meanest fattest old hard knocks with a short brown battern, we'd never seen these before, the first few chicks hit the pavement fuck'n wack. Split you like a melon, the boys doing our honour, tried to get out of the van it was a blood bath. In one van across from what is now ROMA STREET parkland, top of Heusler Terrace. The occupants was Ipswich lads and it was the Goodna chicks being flogged by this feminazi hardons, the old old ''dogfaces were there, they had their heads down in shame. We all heard it a shot was fired and a silence came over the crew .The Ipswich boys were furious and couldn't hear it, they were rocking the divvy van from left to right trying real hard to role it over ,it was teetering, almost there.
The tasky's opened both doors and dragged everyone out on to the street, the brown mallets wailing in on everyone. I will never forget the sound.
Of course it hit the press, all over the world the Courier mail being first on site, filming the lot.........wait for it....yeah ,the feminazi's take a straight line with batterns out all along the width of Huisler Terrace. and they start smashing the cameras and belting film crew.,that is why I still to this day have a darling approach to them, it drives people like (name withheld) insane, it's something that fused along time ago. A lot of the journalist are now high up in the ranks and its a clicky spot. But they were there. We were plastered across the press of the world and a lot of those people had exclusives and they went world wide, they built their careers on photo's and interviews from THAT night.
MANNI from today tonight being one of them, We were all carted off about 30 maybe 40 vehicles no file, just pandemonium u/turns, coppers abusing each other. The street was blocked, I could hear a woman crying it sounded like my flat mate, she had a little girl at home/I couldn't see her.

The lockup was in TURBOT St not Mackeston, the sight was surreal, multi-coloured haired kids and well dressed business people[media staff, in the middle of live to air']..camera crew, sort of middle-aged mans job, dress casual all being dragged backwards by the handcuffs through the car park of TURBOT street, where the fitness centre is now.
There was too many to process, people were starting to count and people were missing, bonds formed real quick. The older ones asking us if we were o.k.// a camera dude had broken teeth and was a popular bloke, the ranks were gathering around them, there were no mobiles but pagers, and they all used them. a well dressed man was holding a punk chicks head in his lap ,she was bleeding from her mouth, a short very loud dude had glass in his eye and he was cussing like the devil..he wants the editor here now ! ! !it took about 7/8 minutes which seamed like an eternity, but they came in cars and pulled straight up on the footpath camera's...lighting dudes filming from the top of their news vans. THESE CUNTS WERE SPRUNG...THIS WAS GOING WORLD WIDE.
The cops were freaking they tried to move cars to block angles, and held up sheets of white board, it was like a termites nest, pouring out of that building. Now cops had started to form behind the row of press people, they seemed stunned and misinformed, some still combing their hair...but they had guns.
A bullhorn sounded from somewhere and it was a clear well diction voice telling us to remain calm, please turn off extra news lighting ,they had an announcement. I was grabbed from behind by the cuffs and pulled into the building. I was told later that everybody left outside had their names taken and released. The cops at the rear, who were now including mounted troops parted and let them leave by heading up GEORGE St. Ambulances came and attended to about 8 people who couldn't walk .it was like a bomb, remember its only about 11 o'clock and late night clubbers from TRACS are pouring out into the street to witness this stream of injured moaning array of drifters.......all to the soundtrack of ''boogie fever'' blaring in the background.

About 3 days later it all came out. The press had been tipped off by a rouge cop, this was the protest error and they thought a bit of juicy coverage, they completely underestimated what was about to happen.
JACK BOOTS JOH, tried to put a gag on all press coverage, this made it worse, the whole world had already seen it.
They started to liken JOH'S Nazi behaviour to Germany and he was commonly referred to in the world press as ''the dictator''..all the Queensland mum and dads that had seen us as a scourge via the propaganda started to see us as aussie battlers remnant from their forefathers.
When the overzealous tasky's starting applying the no more than 3 people shit on the late night drinkers...it was the end, these were shift workers and railway/trucking/wharf workers, this is the salt of the city, they walk home together, have done for hundreds of years, the cops and JOH in particular had gone too far. In about august later that year, we all saw the ''illegal casino'' that didn't exist wink, wink, get furbished with a brand new roulette wheel, they lifted sheets of iron off (name withheld)'s roof ,stopped the traffic ,and lowered it by a huge crane at about 10 am on a Tuesday morning.......they had gone way too far. Shortly after this JOH'S health would fail rapidly, he became nicknamed ''The Fuhrer''. poor fuck'n Terry LEWIS took the rap cause the others hated him, Russ HINZE had an alcohol bill for 1979 for 65 thousand dollars...they threw him to the wolves too. But I know the real names and so do others.
The task force was disbanded and JOH would be hastily knighted by a corrupt governor general...ha ha ha ha SIR FUHRER ha ha ha hah. Many of those kids got their lives together and you would be amazed who they are, I was stuck in the music biz, and it was deep grained by now. The hiding from the cops during the day coincided nicely with the Chinese community of the valley's inport of top grade heroin, the cops were corrupt so were the politicians this meant it didn't have to be so secreted..the stuff was top grade/uncut/inexpensive/and the first hit was free and came with a clean needle. Everyone got rich and I stood and watched my friends die...one after another.
In 1980 Tim came and told me that this tasky went out with his ex's sister and had been stalking him, and said he would kill him. Tim had started carrying a little 38..in January they found Tim hanging from the Waterford railway bridge, he was a beautiful full of life pommie son with 3 brothers, he would give you the shirt off his back.........we know what happened mate, sorry we didn't listen.

I sit and wonder how much blood impregnates the streets of FORTITUDE VALLEY, how much of my blood, and the blood of those I love, so that the punk flag could be flown 6 years later under the guise of ''your pussies...we're hardcore''...my friends died for that Mohawk...

Pat Doyle( Offender's Drummer) wrote:

Mikey "Offender" Donaldson passed away in his sleep on September 22 in 
Barcelona Spain where he had recently relocated from Amsterdam. The cause 
is unknown at the moment. He was 46. He is survived by his brother Joe 
Donaldson, sister Marie Donaldson Ward, and sister Sumiko Hakari , all of 
Killeen, Texas.

 Mikey was the bass player for Austin punk band the Offenders from 1978-86. 
He also recorded bass tracks on MDC's groundbreaker "Millions of Dead 
Cops" and DRI's "Dealing With It." Mikey also performed regularly with MDC 
in the early 1980s. He moved to San Francisco in 1986 and went on to play 
and record with Gary Floyd (Dicks) and Lynn Perko (Imperial Teen) in
Sister Double Happiness. After leaving the music scene for ten years or 
so, Mikey returned to Austin and reunited with the original Offenders 
line-up for a gig at Emos in March 2002. In 2003 MDC recruited Mikey and 
the original ine-up, recorded a new album, and have been touring all over 
the world ever since.

 Mikey is universally regarded as one of the most innovative and inimitable
 masters of the bass guitar. He played his Rickenbacker like it was a
 out-sized rhythm guitar. Taking cues from Jack Bruce and Lemmy, Mikey
 pioneered an agressive speed-picking style and liberal employment of bass 
chords that few have been able to emulate in the past 20 years. He will be 
sorely missed, certainly in Austin and his hometown of Killeen, but also 
across the globe. A memorial celebration in Austin is pending and the 
datewill be announced soon.

 David Dictor wrote: Mikey had rediscovered life in Holland in the last 
four years. His funny easy going nature was known throughout Europe. He 
fell in love with and lived with beautiful run away teen model and merch 
goddess, Selina Hakansson. He relished playing with Tony Slug from BGK's 
band "The Nitwitz" and his own squat band "Brutalized SS".

 Mikey was planning a tour with MDC for Austailia and New Zealand for 
February 2008 and with the Nitwitz to Turkey in April 2008. He LOVED 
touring and loved music. He went everywhere with his music cd binder. He
loved Swedish Hardcore and was up on the most obscure of bands 
everywhere.Mikey was a young hearted person from the old school of 
hardcore. He was "speed metal" before the term was coined. They don't make 
many like this and when he is gone ,,,well he is fucking gone. It is a sad 
fucking day but know Mikey would want you to love life, belly up to the 
bar and yes, practice your instrument like it was the most important thing 
in life.

A vagina sneaked into the Vatican.

It crept past the vagina detectors.

It tip-toed into the very heart

of the rules and regulations section

where all the cardinals were sitting

around in circles making rules about

times of the month, thermometers and

how many erections are allowed through

the eye of a needle.

Tfhe little vagina sprang out suddenly

and shouted - 'Peace be with you!"

The cardinals all replied

"And also with you" because none

of them had ever actually seen one

and they hadn't got a clue what it

really was so they gave it cups of tea

and chocolate biscuits.

When Father Bartholomew came in for

the cups he paled and gasped and

was just about to say "My dear Cardinals,

with respect, you have been sharing your

biscuits with a vagina."

But he said nothing because it might

have led to awkward questions.

The adventurous little vagina

hopped and skipped and danced

along the corridors shouting

"Peace be with you"

and all the priests who had never

seen one said - 'And also with you"

and all the priests who had seen one

said it too.

In theory it should be just as easy

for an erection

but I wouldn't bet on it

man, the amount of talent in this town..... this job is a breeze!

(Cath from Punkfest)

If you cant be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

(Unknown)