Review: Viagra Boys @ Hindley Street Music Hall 21/01/26
There are few modern punk bands as ferocious and in your face as Viagra Boys. On a warm night in Adelaide, they demonstrated why they are just that damn good!
Words Will Oakeshott // Images Danny Wallace
Viagra Boys w/Private Function @ Hindley Street Music Hall 21/01/26
According to major pharmaceutical company Pfizer, “VIAGRA is a prescription medicine used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED).”
Irrefutably, the phrase above is the most peculiar introduction to a live performance review this scribe has ever undertaken. Truthfully, it might just be one of the strangest openings to an article about music in general. However, there is a method to this madness.
Read on.
The reason for utilising information about medication for erection problems (and pulmonary hypertension) should be rather obvious for this article, but why take this approach?
It revolves around three letters found in both the support act’s name, as well as the final word of the opening quote:
“F-U-N”.
Undeniably, on this night, Adelaide put ‘Safety Last’ and “FUN” first.
“💚 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ❤️. Here’s our PF SPECIAL EVENT this year. Because you’ve all been such naughty children this year we’ve decided you’re all getting the present you deserve… WE’RE BREAKING UP LOL.”
This was the extremely saddening Instagram post from Melbourne’s punk powerhouse Private Function on Christmas Day. The Viagra Boys tour was to be PF’s last national expedition before their farewell ceremony, presumably not with ‘White Lady Funerals’.
Just remember, one cannot spell “funeral” without “fun”.
Instantaneously, the punk rock sextet set out to ‘Seize & Destroy’ South Australia. Vocalist Chris Penney stomped barefoot to his microphone, VB in hand, described how much he loved Adelaide, and that by the time the six-piece returns next weekend for Froth & Fury Festival, he might have his voice back.
‘Music Sucks Fuck You’ was the chaotic composition to launch the lunacy, and Private FUNction were dead set on destruction for their psychotic support role. By the time ‘Talking To Myself’ was hysterically executed, Chris Penney was already atop the audience, crowd surfing and shouting along with the hundreds around him dynamically. Honestly, though, this is all in a day’s work and play for the Victorians, and soon it is going to be beyond sorely missed.
‘Fuck Me Dead’ found Chris collapsing on the ground of the stage, dropping his VB, then arising and spraying it everywhere before flinging it into the dance floor area with pub rock attitude. During another manic moment, bassist Milla Holland raged in screaming intensity into her microphone, before pelting it behind herself, narrowly missing guitarist Anthony Biancofiore and keyboardist James Macleod. They were completely unfazed and didn’t miss a beat – of course they didn’t, this is Private FUNction.
READ MORE: Review: DZ Deathrays @ Lion Arts Factory 17/01/26
“Beer is too expensive, cigarettes are too expensive.”
“I just want a cheap beer and cigarettes. Are you ready to be rich?” Chris Penney asked the thousands within the venue when presenting their ‘80s synth hair metal power ballad ‘Ready To Be Rich’. Assuredly, everyone within Hindley Street Music Hall cheered in agreement, and the sing-along and fist-pumping to the “oi oi oi” chant would have most likely left Alice Cooper above impressed.
The bass, cloaked in the Palestinian flag, was thrown to Penney, and Milla seized the vocalist role in an ecstatic rampage of shrieking fury, utilising a pillow to accentuate her howls. ‘I Just Met The Biggest Cunt In The World (It Is You)’ then became a duet, and guitarist Lauren Hester carried out the bass duties superbly – this is all in a day’s fun for the Melburnians.
‘I Wish Australia Had Its Guns Again’ was a shit-stirring pub rock punk extravaganza that escalated the chaos, with crowd surfers aplenty and a “USA” chant of fantastic irony. Chris then jumped over the barrier into the mosh zone alongside his hundreds of admirers to praise Adelaide genuinely:
“Adelaide has always understood what we are doing. They are the best people in Australia.”
The indie pop rock lullaby ‘Koala’ was then exquisitely carried out, and a big group hug was embraced by Mr. Penney in the middle of the dancefloor.
Drummer Aidan McDonald then accepted the frontman duties for PF’s country western love song to Holbrook, entitled ‘Holbrook’, which was bizarrely beautiful and provoked a venue-wide crowd wave and sway.
Returning to his percussion stool, the sextet then dynamited through their hardcore blasts such as ‘FUCK’ and ‘SHIT’ to conclude the incredible insanity. There is only one more opportunity to see the Melbourne maniacs in Adelaide, and that is at Froth & Fury, January 30, Wayville Showgrounds.
Don’t miss the fun.
Similar to waiting for a specific type of medication to take effect, Sweden’s post-punks Viagra Boys amplified the tension in Hindley Street Music Hall by delaying their entrance, causing their adorers to become increasingly impatient. When the sudden darkness overtook the building and a deafening cheer erupted from the thousands within, the six Stockholmers strutted onto the Adelaide stage with immeasurable swagger for the first time. With the strobe light and smoke machine in full effect, singer Sebastian Murphy’s gnome hat stood out sizeably at full mast.
It was time to get dysFUNctional.
‘Man Made Of Meat’ initiated the disorder, with the quirky lyrics of “Ok, Alright” becoming barely audible from Murphy due to the thunderous capacity audience shouting the two words with the utmost glee. The frontman had entered his own Utopia, and he wanted everyone to join him. Wearing only socks, ADIDAS tracksuit pants, a pointed hat and sunglasses, and showcasing his heavily tattooed “Dad Bod”, he was in his element, even licking his nipple in excitement. The ecstasy was shared by the entirety of the Viagra Boys, and that energy was magically magnetic.
‘Slow Learner’ was an astonishing amalgamation of jazz and alternative pub rock, remarkably instructed by Devo and Bloc Party – it sounds preposterous, but that is why Viagra Boys are so spectacular. ‘Waterboy’ was an offbeat venture into Britpop with delightful distortion, which understandably inspired multiple crowd surfers.
“What a great array of Punk Rock Losers!” Sebastian exclaimed to absolute revelry from the six-piece’s devotees. Predictably ‘Punk Rock Loser’ followed, which presented, to a degree, the more animated version of earlier Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Keyboardist Elias Jungqvist was enraptured throughout, like a sugar glider in full flight, and his joy was unquestionably infectious.
‘Uno II’ moved through moments of Joy Division, an erotic film soundtrack and Gorillaz all in one rather stupendously. ‘Therapy II’ should be featured in the next season or film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, matter-of-factly, Viagra Boys should be a major feature in the production. ‘Ain’t No Thief’ was delivered with a ferocity above what had been witnessed thus far, as if The Prodigy had covered Gang Of Four’s ‘To Hell With Poverty’. The band then exited the stage, allowing themselves and all attendees to recoup.
Upon return, ‘Pyramid Of Health’ was presented with an obscure kindness, recalling Macy Playground’s ‘Sex And Candy’. The sextet then embarked upon their scintillating single ‘Troglodyte’.
“This song is about hating those fascist fucks! Free Palestine!” Sebastian Murphy bellowed to resounding acclaim, then VB incited mayhem with the electro-post-punk groove that was undeniably a highlight. ‘Down In The Basement’ followed this liveliness flawlessly, with Oskar Carls adding vivacious volume utilising his saxophone. ‘ADD’ calmed the storm slightly, with a nod to The Real Tuesday Weld musically, as well as hints of Midnight Oil (namely, Redneck Wonderland era). ‘Medicine For Horses’ ensued and exhibited eerie elements of Nine Inch Nails and bafflingly, yet brilliantly, Young The Giant. The atmosphere was altered into a different radiance during this composition, but it was lusciously cloaked with a divine splendour.
Mr. Murphy then regaled a story about being at a house party and “stealing all the medicine and money from a hot girl’s piggy bank” and nearly drowning in a pool trying to grab a beer atop the pool cover that almost killed him. It was an intriguing segue into the band’s post-punk detonation ‘Sports’ (he briefly described his parents pushing him into sports, which he didn’t enjoy). The track did motivate a spiritedness for Seb, who even executed numerous push-ups mid-song before collapsing on the ground, groaning and shouting his poetry during the compelling noise rock commotion.
‘Research Chemicals’ instigated a wall of death, well, a version of this mosh-pit venture, as the available room and visibility were minimal at best. Viagra Boys were tremendously torrential during this epic post-noise-punk venture. Each member was soaring in a psychosis of musical majesty, keyboardist Elias Jungqvist ended up in the crowd to join in with the rockin’ recklessness that was seemingly moving the entire building. The entire production was perfectly and climactically chaotic, and a dazzling conclusion.
Or, was it?
Viagra Boys kept Adelaide on its toes for the rollicking pub punk rocker ‘The Bog Body’ that seemed to defy gravity momentarily. The fantastically frenzied jazz-math-punk ‘Return To Monke’ was also featured, which felt like observing Andy Warhol’s art on an acid trip. Then the official closer ‘Worms’ was an entrancingly befitting armistice in song form, that had a slight motivation of The National, if they were performing at an improv jazz bar on mushrooms. The audience’s sing-along had the band wholeheartedly grateful, as they lifted their instruments into the air in adoring appreciation and bowed to their fanfare.
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ ‘Up Where We Belong’ then blared out of the sound system, meritingly marking the end of the event. This is what Viagra Boys had amazingly achieved for their first Adelaide visit: they lifted us up, and what FUN it was!
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
