Sick Of It All + Toe To Toe + Boneless
Manning Bar, Sydney
10 October 2015
Review by Greg Smith
Photo by Joel Anderson
Kicking off the night of hardcore was Sydney band Boneless. The four-piece’s music is in the traditional vein of short, fast, loud, and they seemed genuinely excited to be on the bill with two legendary bands of the genre. They played songs from their 7-inch Unstoppable, and their LP Gratitude, including Make The Most and State Of Fear. Their set was tight, and fill-in guitarist Jake slotted in seamlessly, while frontman Johnny was highly energetic. If you haven’t seen or heard them yet, you should definitely check them out.
Next up were mainstays Toe To Toe. They charged through a set consisting of songs from their twenty-plus year career, including Live To Win, Survival, For Life, Hope & Sorrow, and Underdog (featuring guest back-up vocalist Craig Setari, bass player from Sick Of It All). They closed the set with Coming Up Roses, and received an appreciative cheer. Despite being less active in recent years, they guys still put on a great live set.
Next, NYHC legends Sick of It All. A band doesn’t survive for twenty nine years if they can’t bring it live, and from the opening “wha-oh” of Good Looking Out, Lou Koller had the mosh pit eating out of the palm of his hand. Their hour-long set included old school, new school, and everything in between. It seemed to take a few songs for the crowd to warm up, but live set staples such as Injustice System and World Full of Hate soon had them screaming along with the band, and the pit in full force. Drummer Armand Majidi was pummelling his kit with brutal precision, and guitarist Pete Koller was jumping around the stage like a man possessed.
Death Or Jail and Sound The Alarm incited some circle pit action, and DNC from new album Last Act Of Defiance was one of many highlights. Lou dedicated Sanctuary to their Aussie fans, which brought an enthusiastic response, followed by an equally enthusiastic wall of death.
They kept it going with Get Bronx, Us vs Them, Uprising Nation, and Stepdown. Lou then advised that his voice was shot, so bass player Craig took over, closing the set with Busted, while Lou walked along the barrier, holding the mic out to the people in the pit, inciting one final round of enthusiastic scream-a-long.
Next year marks the thirtieth anniversary of Sick of It All, and with the guys still ripping out kick-ass live shows, it wouldn’t surprise if they’re still around in thirty more.
