Live review: No Sleep Til festival

20 December 2010

by Poppy Reid

Entertainment Quarter, Sydney
Saturday, December 18 

For an embryonic national festival that was dubbed ‘Soundwave’s seconds’ before it even staged its first show, No Sleep Til in Sydney flipped the bird to any opposing critics last Saturday.

:: Demons, decaptitations and dinosaurs! See TMN's No Sleep Til pics

It may have been held in a few big sheds at the Entertainment Quarter, but the battle between punk and metal created an intense backdrop where metal-heads and pink-haired punks were forced to associate.

Over at the Red Stage, past masters Me First And The Gimme Gimmes drew a thick crowd as they reminisced about when punk wasn’t dead and when in-band rivalry only made you play better. Bassist Fat Mike of NOFX and singer Spike Slawson badgered each other through their set which included tracks Xanadu, Country Road and even a raspy version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Most of the Gimme Gimme crowd stayed for Frenzal Rhomb who took the torch next. The Sydney punk veterans know what’s expected of them nowadays, and obliged with only the favourites; White World and Bucket Bong were the most noted singalongs, along with final track Punch In The Face. To be fair, they did throw in one new track, Bird Attack comically details the toils of having to wear a helmet to fend off magpie assaults.

U.S metalcore band, Autumn Burns Red impressively took out the award for biggest death circle at the Black Stage. Notably one of the most wrathful mosh pits I’ve ever seen, these kids showed no mercy for the fallen, some even relished in the fact.

Afterward, at the Green Stage, seasoned three-piece, Alkaline Trio looked more pop than punk. Singer Matt Skiba sang under a multicoloured trucker hat and behind fluorescent yellow sunglasses, proving you don’t have to look the part to deliver good ol’ shoe-throwing, barrier-bombarding punk rock. Intelligently playing mostly tracks from Crimson and Good Mourning, the Trio did throw a few new tracks from This Addiction.

Skiba, always one for between-song banter, revealed he got in a fight with Fat Mike the night before while they were watching Descendents. NOFX’s Eric Melvin later laughed that Skiba was trying to jump onstage with them, who can blame him really? Rounding off with Radio, if they’re matching grins were anything to go by, Alkaline Trio had as much fun as us.

The sun set on the Green Stage (the only stage that saw it), with metal space cadets Gwar. Supposedly banished from space to “rape the shit out of some hobbits” in Australia, Gwar did just that. In full satirical costume they battled a monster, which decapitated one of their men. The theatrical blood squirting from a fake head deserves definite props for the best piss-take of No Sleep Til.

Meanwhile, over at the Red Stage NOFX used their slot to tackle the big issues.

“This is a song about weed,” said Eric Melvin. 

“Pretty much all of our songs are about coke, but this is the only one about weed,” replied Fat Mike before tearing into New Herb. The cut and thrust continued with jabs at Megadeth’s spelling capabilities, homophobes and religion in between favourites like Leave It Alone, Triple Rock and Blasphemy. During final tracks Perfect Guvernment and Jesusland we showed our appreciation with a good old-fashioned shoe throwing, “are you fucking retarded?” said Fat Mike after getting hit in the chest with a thong or as he called it, a “flip-flop.”

Personally the highlight wasn’t Fat Mike’s bitter sarcasm, nor was it when their keyboardist escorted an over-zealous fan off stage all while lassoing the air with one arm held high; it was Eric Melvin and his quirky high kicks that he projected in all directions behind Fat Mike, genius.

Although most stood by for Descendents, those of us who like a bit of pop in our punk made a beeline for A Day To Remember at the Green Stage. Complete showmen, the Florida five-piece choreographed unified jumps and spins that accented all the best bits of tracks like A Shot In The Dark, My Life For Hire and The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle. Lead vocalist Jeremy McKinnon asked fans to get a buddy to crowd surf and stand, surfing on top of them, few were successful. “One more song!” we screamed before You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance. Bodies spilled over the barricade in droves, this A Day To Remember gig could give the Quicksilver Pro a run for its money any day.

To those who decided to sleep through it and hold out for Soundwave instead, I recommend you treat yourselves to both fest's next year; even if it's just so you can chuck a shoe at your favourite band's metal/punk rival.