LIVE: GIRLSCHOOL with ELECTRIC SEX PANTS – Adelaide, 30 June, 2019

LIVE: GIRLSCHOOL with ELECTRIC SEX PANTS – Adelaide, 30 June, 2019
Enigma Bar, Adelaide, South Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

It must have been 1982 when this reviewer first saw Girlschool on the Australian TV show Rock Arena. I was an instant fan, but it’s taken over 35 years to actually see them in the flesh and cross them off my bucket list. Helluva long time, but I daresay it was almost worth the wait.

First on stage in Adelaide’s dingy Enigma Bar were locals Electric Sex Pants. A lanky drummer took his seat, the guitarist pulled a stocking over his head like he was off to rob the nearest Westpac bank, and the bass player sported a balaclava with a frowny face on it. This isn’t going to go well, I thought.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Led by lead singer Nicki, Electric Sex Pants sound a little like a head on collision between Transvision Vamp and Anti Nowhere League, their punk songs (Sex Pest, I Wanna Be Like You But Better, Nice Guys Can’t Fuck) managing to be as catchy as a killer flu and abrasive at the same time. Sporting an admirable ‘no fucks given’ attitude, and an instantly likeable endearing quality, Electric Sex Pants are the real deal, and with three sold out CD releases already under their belt, it’s a shocker that we’ve not heard of them before.

Girlschool have their work cut out for them to follow the local legends’ impressive opening set, but their four decades of experience was obvious from the first chord of Demolition Boys. Original members Kim McAuliffe and Denise Dufort are joined by long-time guitarist Jax Chambers and bassist Tracy Lamb, who has recently returned to the band for the third time.

Neither McAuliffe recovering from the tail end of the dreaded lurgy nor persistent feedback through Chambers’ amp could hamper the quartet’s enthusiasm and obvious thrill at being able to play in Australia for the first time, and they didn’t waste a moment of their end of tour set. Showing bonhomie and cracking jokes throughout, McAuliffe and Chambers especially seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Enigma is not a large venue, but Girlschool treated the fifty or so present as if they were headlining Wacken Open Air, delivering a superb set crammed full of highlights, including C’mon Let’s Go, Hit And Run, the Motorhead inspired Take It Like A Band, which was dedicated to Lemmy, Phil and Fast Eddie, Race With The Devil and Emergency, the latter sounding as fresh and vigorous as it did when it was released a whopping 38 years ago.

An encore of ZZ Top’s Tush, with Electric Sex Pants’ Nicki guesting enthusiastically on vocals provided another crowd-pleasing highlight to cap off a splendid night of rock n’ roll, and a successful tour for the rock veterans. Just don’t wait another 35 years before returning, please – and come to Perth next time.

Set List:
Demolition Boys
C’mon Let’s Go
The Hunter
Guilty as Sin
Action
Hit and Run
Future Flash
Screaming Blue Murder
Nothing to Lose
Kick It Down
Take It Like a Band
Watch Your Step
Take It All Away
Race With the Devil
Bomber
Emergency

Encore:
Tush

Category: Live Reviews