Descendents, Chinese Burns Unit, LOLA @ The Gov, Adelaide 17/10/2023
It was a Tuesday night at the home of live music in Adelaide, The Gov, with legendary punk rock band Descendents playing one almighty show. If you didn’t go I reckon that you might rue that decision as you never know whether these guys will be back again. If it wasn’t sold out it must of been extremely close and with Chinese Burns Unit and local support LOLA in tow gave punters plenty of value for money.
Adelaide locals LOLA played a fantastic set and the more I see them play the more I like the spirit and energy they play with. They definitely seem to thrive playing in front of a bigger crowd and with a new EP that drops this Friday I think there are definitely bigger things in front of them. Front man Billy Burns joked about wanting to change their name to the Ascendents. Tearing it up right from the get go with Producers Bar and Don’t Try and Find The Drugs their set was loaded with great songs. Other highlights included Daddy’s Money, Black Lung, Game Over (all about Minecraft), What’s The Point and finishing on Ridin’ Free.
Chinese Burns Unit were next and to be honest I didn’t know much about them even though they have been making music for quite a while. To my surprise when Frenzal Rhomb front man Jay Whalley started setting his bass, yep his bass I was definitely intrigued. In a similar vain to Whalley main going concern their brand of punk is catchy, a bit melodical, and played hard and fast. Maybe aptly titled “inner western Sydney power pop”. They might have only played for .five minutes but they ploughed through some cracking songs including Reptilian Overlords, Feel Your Ghost, Boyfriend Chair, Posters On A Wall and Beat Yourself Up.
Descendents were elite and their set was really something. It is hard to believe that it has been six years since their last visit here but they more than made up for it. Thirty one songs in seventy five minutes is incredible to say the least. Milo Aukerman took to the stage saying they had been down to Glenelg that day and that there were no waves, no one there… it was empty which was the perfect line to open proceedings with Everything Sux. From here it was an onslaught of songs back to back songs from classic albums Milo Goes To College, Everything Sucks and Hypercaffium Spazzinate.
Singer Milo Aukerman looked in great shape and vocally brilliant which after some recent health concerns you would hardly know judging by the way he was moving around on stage performer younger than his years. Highlights for me included the likes of Hope, Silly Girl, I Wanna Be a Bear, Myage and Suburban Home. Having listed those there’s probably another dozen that could of made the highlights reel. The main set ended on Smile with Milo saying “well played Adelaide”. The encore saw the band power to Good Good Things, Sailor’s Choice, Global Probing, Grudge and Get The Time. An elite performance from punk rock royalty.
Live Review By Rob Lyon