Regurgitator – (with Glitoris) -The Gov – Friday 17 August 2018
Words Geoff Jenke
Regurgitator hit The Gov on their Life Support tour, and going by the tour name you would think they are struggling these days. Far from it, as this Gov gig sold out ages ago, such is the drawing power of the ‘Gurge. Besides, they have a new album, Headroxx, to promote.
Coming from Brisbane, Regurgitator formed late 1993 and released their first album, Tu-Plang, in 1996. The follow up album, Unit, went triple platinum in Australia and contained the high selling singles, Polyester Girl and Black Bugs.
Before Regurgitator hit the stage, we had an interesting set from Glitoris, perhaps the perfect support to the ‘Gurge. The four girls were dressed in skin tight black suits with lots of makeup on and they soon had the audience in the palm of their hand. It was hard to categorise their music. Just when you thought they were just a modern punk band, they drag out Zeppelin influences in the song The Policy. Yes, that was Zeppelin’s Kashmir I could hear in the song. Before playing Warriors, they dedicated the song to Aretha Franklin who had passed away the day before. They also introduced themselves as Tony, Andrew, Kevin 07 and Malcom. Interesting! With songs like Sex Video, Cock Rock, Dippin’ My Wick and Slut Power, Glitoris may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I am sure they gained a lot of new fans at The Gov.
Regurgitator came on stage to the strains of the title track of their new album, Headroxx, dancing with large paper-mache heads on. When the track ended, they picked up their instruments, played a few power chords and said “Goodnight, thanks for coming” before running off stage. Within seconds Ben, Quan and Peter ran back on and thanked “the support bands, especially the last one who only played a short set of two songs”. Regurgitator are a band who know how to have fun, often at their own expense.
They opened with the new song Roxx for Brains and yes Virginia, their new stuff is as good as their old stuff. The audience were right behind the band from the start and when the opening strains of I Sucked a lot of C**k to Get Where I Am, the extremely packed room went off. It is amazing how a three-piece band can pack so much of punch.
The band and audience bonded through the “hits” such as Blubber Boy, Polyester Girl. I like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff, Bong in my Eye and I Will Lick Your… At times Ben Ely and Quan Yeoman swapped guitars, Ben would hit the button on the synthesiser and “rap” to tunes and they also swapped vocals. Special mention to drummer Peter Kostic who hit the drums hard all night and kept the pair in front of him together. Throughout all this you couldn’t get the smiles off their face’s. They love their job as much as the audience love them.
The encore consisted of Black Bugs and ! (The Song Formerly Known As), with its dedication to Prince. The girls from Glitoris joined the band on stage for some dancing during the last song.
Next year will be Regurgitator’s 25th year in the business. I guess we can expect a rash of re-releases and hopefully some new material. Naturally there will probably be a National Tour in celebration of this feat. What ever you do, don’t miss it. Regurgitator are a national icon that should be treasured.
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