Nekromantix, Perth, 2nd October 2012

With Chainsaw Hookers and The Blazin Entrails
Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA
Reviewed by Domino A. Dark | Photography by Sticky Balls

On what had previously been a gloriously sunny, Perth spring day, the day Nekromantix were to grace our city, later turned into a cold and windy evening; miserable, with some kind of liquid falling from the sky.  Perhaps it was a heavenly reaction to the glorification of necromania, children’s coffins and dancing with the undead, or perhaps it was just a coincidence – whatever the reason, the shabby weather certainly set the mood for the colourful group of punks and psychobillies who ventured out of the gutter and down to the Rosemount Hotel to see Nekromantix and Kim Nekroman’s first Australian gig in four years.

Stern notices tacked here and there to the walls of the pub would suggest the Rosemount is held ransom to noise restrictions – being as it is, located in a semi residential area.  These notices advised musicians and patrons of strict playing times and, interestingly enough, were adhered to by the bands appearing on the night.  Which just goes to show; you can break televisions and trash all the hotel rooms you want, but you better not fuck with The Man when it comes to noise restrictions.

Much loved local boys, Blazin Entrails had the bittersweet honour of kicking off the night; sweet because the Los Barstos know the Entrails always put on a great show and made bitter with the sad news that the Nekro gig would be the last time the band appeared in its current line-up.  Caleb, Lee and Walt gifted their fans a blistering set of the best, including, Switchblade, Flamethrower, Los Barstos, Weekend at Birnies, Electric Brains and Grease for the Gravy.  Old and new, they lived up to their Perthonality as one of our city’s best live acts – surely a fine and respectable way to see out an era.

100% ROCK MAGAZINE has it on good authority that the bass player with the longest rats’ tail in the biz will be back on stage with another Perth act, Walt is putting that beautiful, sparkly orange drum kit into storage, where it will safely await his return from an overseas adventure and Caleb will be soon be back with a new line up.  Entrails fans should keep watching this space for updates.

But let’s talk about the crowd.

This reviewer has no qualms admitting her rampant consumerism.  When it comes to clothes, pretty things and playing dress-ups; I have absolutely no self-restraint.  My credit card has often been reduced to nought but lump of melted plastic, hiding in the darkest recesses of my bag, used and abused and left to lick its wounds and whimper until it is dragged out for another battering.  Following this, my second most favourite pastime is fashion voyeurism and there’s hardly a better place to indulge in this dirty little habit, than at a pub full of psychobillies.  Last Tuesday night, Nekromantix fans did not disappoint.  There was a veritable smorgasbord of leather, plaid, big hair, tiger-print, leopard print, high heels, creepers, more big hair and chains – more than enough for any Peeping Tom or fashion addict to drool over.  And drool I did.

With this in mind, consider the second band of the evening; the Chainsaw Hookers.  The hirsute rockers were a vision resplendent in denim.  Just because their complexions reside toward the ginger side of the scale, doesn’t mean they can’t kick musical arse.  The Hookers opened their set with Get Back to Hell and amongst others in this denim daydream, banged out My Revenge and Santanico Pandemonium before finishing with the disturbing Never Sleep Again and Death Curse.

These lads are known for their violent, revenge-fuelled dirty punk rock and balls-out, take no prisoners playing style.  Think about it; if you’re the only thing between the audience and Kim Nekroman, then you’ve got yourself a captive audience and by crikey you’d want to make them remember your name.

The last time I saw this band the venue became awash with condoms emblazoned with the promise; “Chainsaw Hookers – always rock hard.’’  This time around there were no free prophylactics, but rock hard they did.

Chainsaw Hookers will tell you that they are one of the hardest working bands on the West Coast and if this is indeed true, then no doubt they’ll be back, assaulting our eardrums before you can say condom merch.

Entrails, hookers and condoms aside (now that sounds like a party!) there was one reason we all hit the ‘mount that night and it was to see Nekromnatix.  That damn noise curfew was getting ever closer and finally, it was time for the main event.

Lux Drummerette, the much anticipated lady who drums, was first onto the stage.  100% Rock is pleased to report that she is every bit as beautiful in person and yes, she does indeed play in heels.  And how!

Lux was soon joined by guitarist Franciso Mesa and the man with the coffin bass, Kim Nekroman himself.  Once all three were on stage, they wasted no time in getting down to business, opening with Nice Day for a Resurrection and following through with Horny in a Hearse, Alice in Psycholand, NekroTastic Extasy and Gargoyles Over Copenhagen.  A quick glance at the ambitious set list taped to the carpet at Nekroman’s feet would suggest that many of the tracks written down were dumped due to time restrictions, or it could have been that Kim’s audience interaction ate into the band’s set time.  When a lot of bands are more interested in banging out the tracks, collecting the cash and getting out of Dodge, it was refreshing to see a difference in Nekromantix.  Kim is rock n roll veteran and an attention-loving stage whore; in all the right ways.  Ever the showman he hammed it up for the cameras positioned at the foot of the stage, pulling faces and holding poses for that perfect shot.  The front man’s intimacy with his coffin bass was obvious by the way he swung it about, sat on it, slid across the stage on it and even brought it up to his chest to play ‘lectric-style.  It was plain to see that the two share a special relationship, man and instrument, and judging by the way Nekroman alternated between caressing the shaft of the bass with an all-too familiar hand motion and plucking the strings with his tongue, there could be a lot more to this relationship than many of us would care to be privy.

But I could be wrong.

Back to the fashion-fetish; it was interesting to note that all three members of Nekromantix had the same hair, albeit one quiff was decidedly larger than the others and one had a very fetching red stripe.  But as you’ll recall, this was a psychobilly concert and quiffs were the call of the evening, both onstage and in the crowd, where two audience members vied for the title of world’s tallest.  In a controversial twist, they might have even been larger than Nekroman’s – now that’s some big hair.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, especially when there’s a noise curfew and especially on a Tuesday night in Dullsville, heaven forbid we upset the wowsers. Nekromantix finished up their set and disappeared backstage, or where-ever the hell it is these people hide.  In between last drinks and burly security guards ushering folks out the door, there was only enough time to get a photo with Lux and hit the merch stand for a bit more credit card abuse, before escaping outside and into the night.  A pub full of psychobillies and punks slipping into the quiet streets of North Perth – our ears filled with a high-pitched ringing sound that we would endure for days to come.

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries