By Kelly Dent
Saturday February 10 saw the highly anticipated sold-out headliner for Dead Wet Things at Independent. The 110-cap room was packed to the rafters with an eager crowd just waiting for the explosive performances from Dead Wet Things and their well-matched support, Seizure, to kick off.
Opening the evening was Hendon’s favourite son, Seizure, a lyrical force of nature propelled by his percussive beats, mixed live on stage. He spat each lyric with confidence reminiscent of hip-hop behemoths like the Notorious B.I.G. and Action Bronson. A brief technical hiccup didn’t phase this artist, who used the momentary pause in the show to share an impromptu acapella piece that only showcased Seizure’s adaptability and raw talent, effortlessly turning what could have been a stumbling block into a standout moment of the night.
Seizure’s lyrics are clever, unexpected, and more than a little tongue-in-cheek, weaving together tales that keep you hooked. Each word is delivered with precision, carrying a weight that demands to be heard, but with a playful ease to the performance.
Next, an exclusive screening of Dead Wet Things’ full-length ‘Coalcaine’ film produced by the band to promote their latest single, ‘Big Bag a’Cans’. The bizarre, dead-pan humour won a lot of laughs, with the crowd enthusiastically shouting ‘aye? Whey aye!’ along with the characters like some kind of battle cry.
Finally, Dead Wet Things emerged onto the stage with their usual simple setup (drums, guitar, bass, vocal) and wasted no time in commanding the attention of every soul in the room. From the first chord to the last, Dead Wet Things delivered a performance that was nothing short of electrifying and a little bit dangerous. And this writer means dangerous, with a few crowd dives and a swinging mic that smacked the lips clean off lead singer Pablo Parker, to use an expression favoured by the frontman.
Their dissonant punk-rock tunes sometimes border on primal with crass, unapologetic lyrics that intoxicate fans every single time. Well-loved tunes like ‘Stella’, ‘Camp Freddie’, and ‘Pizza Slice Scream Queen’ as well as the newest release ‘Big Bag a’Cans’ paint a vivid but grimy picture of a society teetering on the brink of chaos. Yet, amid that threat of chaos, there’s a sense of familiarity, a reflection of the world we live in. Dead Wet Things draw a caricature of society that is as unsettling as it is undeniable, inviting listeners to confront the uncomfortable truths that lay beneath the surface.