Reviewed on Sunday December 11 (photo by Ashley Mar)
An open letter to Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice on the occasion of its fourth birthday.
Ah, Frankie’s. For the last four years you’ve not only provided the best selection of beers and spirits alongside the greasiest yet most delicious pizza, you’ve provided a playground for rock stars visiting our fair city, a refuge for city suits to escape the monotony of daily life, a dive bar frequented by the coolest kids in town, and a live music venue for local bands to showcase their talent, raising them onto a platform like no other. And your birthday celebration was no exception.
Your primary objective was to throw a party like no other, and so you gathered into your arms a choice selection of bands who wanted nothing more than to make your loyal patrons shimmy and shake.
Lepers And Crooks took to your cosy stage with a tantalising swagger, forcing the audience to a climatic peak with ‘Heathen Circus’ and ‘This System’. Frontman Sam Baker mounted the forward speaker and made love to the crowd as the rest of the band bounced along in rhythmic bliss.
Sydney’s own sons of grunge The Dead Love were a great choice too, for as always, their performance was gnarly in the best of senses – one of the measures of a good band is how they make you move, and with one brave crowd-surfer coming particularly close to the ceiling through classics like ‘Summer’ and ‘Wastelands’, they were fitting for the occasion.
And as if you couldn’t do more to appease your adoring punters, welcoming Aussie legends Wolfmother to your party just tipped us over the edge, the air con doing nothing to cool the 400 emphatic fans crammed within your sweaty cavity. Wolfmother set fire to the stage, the ambers of their music burning through the venue, swallowing the crowd in an inferno of rock, with arms raised high and voices singing loud.
So thank you Wolfmother, and thank you Frankie’s, for giving us an unbelievable night of grotty floors, sticky beer and deafened ears. Here’s to another year of legendary music and epic memories – happy birthday, and long live rock’n’roll.
