After attending a bunch of bigger gigs recently it was such a nice breathe of fresh air to be back at The Foundry. What made it that much sweeter, though, was the brilliant line up. With great bands such as the local Concrete Surfers, the Gold Coastian Draggs and the epic Drunk Mums there were three guarantees: Sweet tunes, high energy and sweat, lots and lots of sweat.

The first band to jump on stage were the local garage-surf boys Concrete Surfers. I saw these guys play a low key show at a house party last year, as well as another at Beetlebar, and thought that they were tight as hell and pretty damn good (especially for their age), and to be honest, I didn’t know if they could sound tighter, or better. However, as soon as they started playing they managed to dispel these musings by putting on one of the most refreshing sets I’ve seen of late, and from the size of the crowd (for an opener no less), I don’t think I was the only one impressed. They flowed through their set, playing some of their better known tracks such as Roma Street and Come For a Ride, as well as some new surprises (which I can’t wait to hear more of), and never showed signs of nervousness, fatigue, or boredom for what I believe may be the biggest show they’ve played. All in all if you take into account the skill of these guys as individual musicians, how good they're songs really are, and how well the crowd reacted to them, it only indicates that these guys are seriously good and destined for big things to come. 

Going into tonight I was excited to see all three bands, but especially excited to see Draggs. I hadn't heard all that much from the lo-fi garage-punk four piece, but what I had heard was gritty, messy and fucking awesome. With this in mind, it would seem like my high expectations might actually dampen the experience of seeing them live (do I need to remind anyone of Suicide Squad?), but it didn’t, because unlike Suicide Squad, Draggs are incredible. They started off playing fast paced, sludgy, garage-punk and ended playing fast placed, sludgy, garage-punk; and that’s a great thing. They were relentless in their onslaught, barely stopping between songs and keeping an energy so high that by the third track the classic lazy dances being performed towards the front turned into pogoing, which is pretty damn rare for a support act. For a band which has only just dropped it’s first EP they were received famously, and truthfully I don’t think they could have been received any other way for how good and honest their music is. In modern times it’s hard to see a band with no bullshit, but Draggs is definitely one of them. So if you like getting thrown about to thrashy garage music go and check em out because you won’t regret it.

By the time Drunk Mums are about to go on there’s a vibrant, almost electrostatic energy in the room. Most of the punters looked slightly pissed and condensed towards the front. There’s a tension in the room, and you know even before the band comes on that it’s going to go off. And oh how it went off! As they started playing their opener, Nanganator it seemed almost as if the crowd became the nitrous trying to dispel itself from the canister into a vacant room; a bunch of molecules flying and whirling about in a frenzy. I’m not going to lie, having the knowledge that the floor had somewhat collapsed at The Foundry before had me second guessing the safety of the people in the room; It was that chaotic. It didn’t even seem as though some people were dancing, from what I could see everyone was going for it; the members of Drunk Mums smiling at each other as people continued to smash into themselves and crowd surf (every other 10-20 seconds). Apart from the insane mosh, the music was brilliant, with Drunk Mums pumping out high their octane garage tunes for most of the gig, only slowing down so they could smash you in the face with their next drop. Honestly I’ve been to a lot of gigs at The Foundry, and I can positively say that this was one of the loosest, fun and down right mental nights which I have been too. 

- Kacper Majchrowski