@ The Marquee
[Friday 24th September 2004]
Reviewed by Daisy Little
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After a tight set by Mach Pelican (Japanese surfer boys playing Ramones-inspired punk rock), The Spazzys walked onstage to the strains of The Banana Split's theme song. Which, as well as tying into the album title, seemed appropriate because The Spazzys infectious brand of Pop Punk is catchy and clever in a similar way to "kids entertainment" (for stoned Gen Xers) like the Banana Split and The Muppets.
I wasn't disappointed by The Spazzys' performance - they blazed through a rocking 40 minute set of their original numbers including the radio-friendly "Let's Get Spazzy" and "Hey Hey Baby" as well as cover versions of "My Boyfriend's Back" and "I Don't Want To Go To The Party" and returned to perform an encore of "Paco Doesn't Love Me" and "Let's Get Retarded". Kat and Lucy seemed a little unsure of themselves but Alice delivered a stellar performance.
I had hoped that the success of The Spazzys, could be a signal that the local scene is ready for a resurgence of Riot Grrl bands who not only entertain, but also inspire young women to pick up instruments and do it for themselves. While The Spazzys were certainly entertaining, I was somewhat disappointed by the behaviour of the crowd and the band's reaction to it.
The audience was comprised of clumps of Punk and Goth kids rocking out, but directly in front of the stage (where I was standing) was a group of drunk, ugly, moshing, stage-diving, college boys. I should add that the stage was about ½ metre high. One notable was the curly haired freak with a 70s porn star mo who stripped naked and got up on stage to jiggle his way through 'shake and twist'.
Security made a half-hearted attempt to get him off the stage but The Spazzys loved it. They let him stay for the duration of that song and Lucy even suggested that we buy him a beer. I get that they were impressed or happy that people were rocking out and enjoying the music, but I was disappointed because I find this sort of behaviour aggressive and unnecessary and I didn't think that the band should have been encouraging it. But, I guess The Spazzys are too young to remember that violence and aggressive macho behaviour was one of the things that ruined punk rock for the female fans.
The Spazzys are certainly on the way up, but they have a way to go in terms of engaging with their audience.
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© 2003