Home MEDIA LARGERSTEIN – Max Watts Melbourne

LARGERSTEIN – Max Watts Melbourne

11/28/2019

Words – Clare
Photos – x613media

Ahoy mateys! Last Saturday night the crew here at Everyday Metal descended into the bowls of the SS Max Watts in Melbourne to see a very special swashbuckling show by Lagerstein, the one and only Australian Pirate Metal band. Joining us on the high seas were Keggin and Triple Kill. We had to walk through The Mezzanine bar in order to get to the main band room, which was full to the brim of women dressed as wenches, men dressed as pirates and people wearing goon box helmets. The drinks were flowing, everyone was merry, and we even had to push past a giant parrot wearing a tiny pirate hat that was holding a beer bong up while a crouching pirate was chugging. The Ballroom opened and we went to go secure ourselves a good spot for the show.

‘’Are you fucking ready!’’ Gaz ‘The Goon King’ Baker said addressing the already tipsy crowd. Keggin are a fun-loving four-piece party punk band from Melbourne that is themed around the great Australian beverage, goon. They started playing some tracks that were really fast paced and a lot of fun. They played their sing-along song ‘Jack Daniels’ which we had to wait for while drummer Dave ‘Stubbie’ Holder sipped on his beer. It was at this point Gaz called over the ‘Goon Boy’ which was a dude dressed as a butler who stood at the back of the stage holding a silver tray and on that silver tray was, you guessed it, a silver bag of goon. All throughout the set this ‘Goon Boy’ would be called upon to serve the band members a swig. They performed a rendition of the Bloodhound Gang’s ‘Fire Water Burn’ but instead of ‘the roof is on fire’ it was ‘the goon is on special’. They also played their 2016 track ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Goon’ and ‘The Goon Song’ (which is about goon) and then a member of Lagerstein appeared on stage with a beer bong for the boys, and although their set was over, it wouldn’t be the last time we see them.

The crowd cheered for Triple Kill, a heavy metal band from Melbourne who started to play with ferocious energy, their movements super expressive (and I’m not just talking about Rodney’s hair). The only way I can describe their sound is nerd power metal and I was really getting some ‘Holy Diver’ old school metal vibes. The set got heavier with their track ‘Age of Rebellion’ to which lead vocalist Rodney ushered the crowd into a wall of death, the mighty Empire versus Rebel scum. They also played ‘Blades’ from their 2017 release ‘The First Kill’. It was at this point that Triple Kill got their obligatory beer bong delivered by Lagerstein themselves, and then they launched into ‘Tears of a Burning Messiah’ which was definitely my favourite track of the set. ‘Moshing is just human Beyblades!’ exclaimed Rodney and they played us a cover of ‘Sk8er Boi’ which I am sorry to say Avril, was way better than the original, and we all watched on in delight as the drunken crew in the pit joined together for some synchronized rowing. It was a fun set with Triple Kill who proved they’ve got some old school showmanship skills.

The stage was set with a ships wheel that was placed at the helm and off to the side was Salty Pete’s Pirate Bar which was stocked to the brim with beer. Connor, the drummer from Triple Kill came out to introduce the main event, Lagerstein for their ‘Endless Rum’ Australian Tour ‘Sing until your lungs give out, dance until your legs give out, drink until your livers fucking fail. Ahoy!’. The fans went buccaneer wild for the seven pirates who terrorise the seven seas. We heard an accordion playing which was coming from the keytar, but with drums, guitars, keyboards and a violin on stage we knew that this night was going to be an orchestra of sounds, a real performance. Throughout the evening we heard tracks like ‘Wench My Thirst’, ‘Pina Colada Paradise’ and ‘Drink the Rum’ to name a few. But, between the songs was just as entertaining, two of the pirates were locked in a shoey contest (Starboard side won that one), later there was a surprise edition of Neil of Fortune, and we had an appearance from the Party Parrot (who I mentioned was partying with the punters earlier on). As the Party Parrot was flapping around on stage and the Captain was egging the crowd to join along ‘flap your arms’, I realized that Lagerstein is basically just The Wiggles but for alcoholic adults, and these big kids had the time of their drunken lives! I’ve never seen such an active and involved audience before and one that was so dedicated to the band. Gaz from Keggin made an appearance for a jig and a sing along, and later Rodney from Triple Kill came out to join them in a chorus. Then all the pirates unplugged and got the whole venue to sit down for a campfire style acoustic song. The played ‘Dreaded Skies’ followed by band member introductions where each pirate downed a beer bong (including the parrot), and with that they exited the stage. With any massive performance like that you always know an encore is on its way, and in a night filled with renditions, Lagerstein played theirs, a cover of Men At Work’s ‘Down Under’ and then they played their other newest release ‘25 Hours’. Walking away from that epically ridiculous performance after it was all done and dusted, left me with just one thought…. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!’.