Caroles, Te Kooti Brotherhood, Graves, Parents – Lucha Lounge (Concert Review)

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What better venue for a hardcore punk show than Newmarket’s Lucha Lounge, where pictures of masked Mexican wrestlers glare threateningly from the walls.

The evening opens with Caroles, a heavy three-piece whose primarily instrumental sound ranges from film track gorgeousness to tightly controlled chaos. Their moody set is both sublime and deranged, traversing everything from Paris, Texas moodiness to eardrum bursting doom riffs.

Next up, Te Kooti Brotherhood takes the brutality of Caroles and raises it, inspiring impassioned head-banging among musicians and audience members alike. The performance centres around the personality of frontman Benjamin Steel, who warns the crowd to “stay away from the wet blankets in life” and rips off his shirt, revealing jeans so low-slung he’s in danger of a wardrobe malfunction.

Graves take the stage and impress the crowd with their tight musicianship. Singer Richie’s primal growl acts like another instrument, bringing an added layer of emotion to an already cathartic set.

Last up Parents turn the volume up to eleven and treat the crowd to bone-shattering hardcore punk. Will Wood’s signature drums fill the venue like the sound of an advancing zombie army on horseback, while singer Simon marries his clean cut 1950s greaser looks with the growl of a wounded lion.

The evening was loud, angry and strangely therapeutic – the perfect end to the working week.

– Kathryn van Beek

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Tim Armstrong:

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Kathryn van Beek
www.kathrynvanbeek.co.nz

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