The Chats are back from a bit of world touring to play us their latest release, GET FUCKED. Not sure if that’s a suggestion or an order, so I went along to their Sydney all-ages show at the Enmore Theatre to find out for myself. Tonight’s supports were Mean Jeans from the US and The Prize from Melbourne.

The Prize

First up were The Prize, a 5 piece, up from Naarm, playing their first Sydney show. They have lots of guitars (3 of them!) and a banging bass & drum rhythm section. Vocal duties are shared from Carey, guitar and drummer, Nadine – gotta love a singing drummer.

There was an early trickle of people into the Enmore to see the band – and they didn’t disappoint. The small but excitable crowd quickly packed the front of the venue to have a warm up dance to a bit of power pop punk. There were hints of The Ramones or maybe even the Undertones, bouncing along with driving chunky guitar and a even few duelling solos – just because.

Check them out here.

Mean Jeans

Time to turn the RPMs up with the Mean Jeans (or did they say the Bee Gees?). This 3 piece were a bubbly trio that love short, fast and loud pop and punky songs. Think of the US version of the Hard Ons and that’s what you get.

There were plenty of cheesy song lyrics and pseudo jingles about Coors Lite, Sizzler and pizza joints; and everyone’s favourite – I Fell into a Bog – a song about … well, falling into a bog. But most of all, these guys were up for a bit of fun, with plenty of back and forth with the audience; and some quick reactions – what do you do when someone throws a shoe on stage – you do a shoey of course.

Check out a bit of the mayhem here.

The Chats

Curtains were drawn for a stage setup (haven’t seen that before at the Enmore) & the venue was now filling fast. Being an all-ages show, the floor was now a heaving mass of bodies with plenty of family groups of mum, dad and punk kids. There were chants, giggles and lots of selfies.

No stage walk-ons for The Chats – but a straight up start even before the curtains open, so they are on full throttle from the start. From there on they were a no nonsense song delivery machine, knocking them off one after the other; with only the occasional stop to catch a breath and announcement of the next song.

In the crowd, a mass of writhing bodies filled the floor, with little eddies of mosh circles crashing into each other’s orbits.

The set list was massive, with over 30 songs being flung out there, including their classic punk version of the Wiggles’ Can you (Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist?), a faster than light speed version of Smoko and ending up the set with Pub Feed – and the crowd went off! There was even a brief encore of the Kiss classic Rock and Roll All Nite.

And then it all stopped. All that was left was a mass of bodies meandering out to Enmore road. Remind yourself of the power packed energy of the Chats, here.

And finally there was definitely a post COVID Brown Note return tonight!