A mass of skate punk and metal fans ensured tonight’s gig was sold out, and Suicidal Tendencies returned the favour with a brutally uncompromising set. These legends of Southern California – sometimes known as the ‘godfathers of crossover thrash’, gave us a memorable night of skate anthems.
Mike Muir and the boys came out swinging with the epic You Can’t Bring Me Down with seriously franticly shredding guitarwork. Following up with the almighty one-two of Institutionalized and Join The Army, Suicidal Tendencies had a brilliant tempo – most of us wanted to breakout our skate boards and take on the nearest half pipe. Always outspoken and never too far from controversy, Suicidal Tendencies play with such passion you could see how seriously they take this shit. Mike Muir’s rants wear clear and concise, covering the usual topics – religion, family, conservatism, you get the idea. These guys don’t back down – it’s not in their nature, they wear their bleeding hearts on their bleeding sleeves.
But the Suicidal army was here in force, and the generals delivered – We Are Family and Subliminal had the mosh in frenzy, and it didn’t let up with Come Alive and War Inside My Head. Another fan favourite, Send Me Your Money featured the bulk of the crowd in singalong mode – but by then half on them were either too drunk on booze or giddy on the rock of Suicidal Tendencies to get it right.
The ST skate team was brought on stage for the groovy metal of Possessed To Skate, and soon two dozen nutters had climbed over the barrier and joined them. After the madness subsided, it went into overdrive with the blistering Cyco Vision. Unfortunately one stupid girl decided it would be a good idea to climb on stage and tackle Mike Muir in an attempt to grab his bandana as a souvenir. While she was briskly whisked off stage, Mike left the stage and finished the song side of stage. Clearly he was upset, and a few songs were cut from their setlist. He’s a big lad, and his back injury may also have flared up – but that’s all conjecture. Suicidal Tendencies then left the stage for a short break before the encore, the almighty Pledge Your Allegiance
.
Suicidal Tendencies are due for a new album next year – fingers crossed we’ll see them in Sydney again, tonight’s performance was a hard hitting faceplant of Suicidal goodness, and we want more.
