Sticky Filth, Auckland NZ, 2018

Sticky Filth

13th October 2018
Galatos, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review & Photography by Sarah Kidd.

Saturday night was made for punk rock.

Three bands, three members each and a whole lot of noise was the order of the evening as patrons dressed in an assortment of black, many sporting meticulous battle vests – made their way inside Galatos to be greeted by a rather impressive stage set up.

While the floor up front was looking a bit sparse to start with, the shit kicking chicks that are Slumbug soon rectified that, their blend of sludgy doom metal with a definitive punk edge drawing people closer to the stage. Having recently just supported Church of Misery, it was great to see the three piece have a bigger space to play with. Fan favourite ‘Analstasia’ saw both lead vocalist Donny and bassist Sassy display some serious guitar skills while Scruffy brought up the back almost hidden behind the drum kit – she may not have been that easy to see, but Scruffy always makes an impression on an auditory level. Moving through their set the trio seemed slightly more reserved than they were only a few days ago in the relative darkness of Whammy, however they ramped it up a few notches with their final two tracks ‘Niu Niu’ and ‘Lucy’s Hate Song’ the combination of Donny’s blood curdling shrieks and Sassy’s almost maniacal eye action as she spat out lyrics about the act of stabbing making it clear that this band are not to be under-estimated.

Moving through to the second act of the night and we are presented with a three-piece made up of members from pedigree acts such as Missing Teeth, Shitripper, and Ioane Donnelly on drums formally of Markdown. Fast paced and old school, they delivered a scorching set which included every track off of their recently released album entitled Special Powers. Songs about road rage intermingled with lyrics decrying the substance of mucus plaguing every facet of one’s body and life; the inevitably growing crowd throwing arms around each other as they stomped boots to the traditional punk chord structures. With a must have album out already and head strong live performances, Creatures are destined to quickly obtain a sizeably loyal fan base.

Galatos was near humming as Sticky Filth arrived on stage, vocalist and bassist Craig Radford immediately calling for both the house music and the lights to be turned off. Pacing in the dark for a few moments you could feel the ferocity building within Radford like a tightly coiled spring, ready to explode at any moment. Fans waited for it, lined across the front row they swayed in almost hypnotic unison as they watched Radford, throwing their bodies against each other as he began to growl into the microphone.

Created in 1985 by Radford who at that point ‘was a southpaw guitarist who played right-handed guitars upside-down’ the members changed six months in when Chris Snowden of the Casualty’s replaced bassist Colin Long. Swapping both instruments and artistic ideas the creative partnership and friendship between Radford and Snowden is still iron cast to this day and is clearly evident as they interact on stage. Behind the kit Mark ‘Boot’ Hill – who joined in 2000 – kept phenomenal pace on the skins, every so often peering out at the cascading bodies that lapped at the edge of the stage.

Early classics such as 1988’s ‘Dig You Up’ were followed by more recent additions like ‘The Witch That Got Away’ from their last full-length studio album Fourth Domain released in 2011, proving how the Filth’s music has lost none of its brutality despite the advancing years; excitingly a couple of new tracks were even added to the set, their inclusion illustrating that these boys aren’t rolling over any day soon. Radford stalked the stage, periodically whipping up the crowd before dropping to his knees as he pulled at his bass strings, his relationship with his instrument often seemingly one of love and hate.

The set was one to end all others, a full gamut of their back catalogue delivered bloody and raw, the occasional ode of gratitude thrown in by Radford or Snowden. Finishing the set on one of the most highly requested Sticky Filth tracks ever ‘Weep Woman Weep’ and Radford threw his bass to the floor before disappearing through a side door, only to return moments later for a small encore, where the trio expended every last drop of sweat from their bodies.

Sticky Filth … nuff said.

Were you there at Galatos for this brilliant high energy punkrock gig? Or have you seen Sticky Filth perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Sticky Filth Setlist:

1. Prologue
2. Dig You Up
3. Nadia
4. Jahbullheboosay
5. Flowers
6. The Witch That Got Away
7. Motorbike
8. No Comfort Comes
9. Flesh
10. Vanguard 6 Hellride
11. Too Deep
12. Light Of Day
13. Mother
14. Happy Birthday
15. Scrap Metal
16. Jubba Heights
17. Leave In The Morning
18. Ride
19. Yorkshire Ripper
20. Vodka
21. Astronaut
22. Stray Dogs
23. Already Alright
24. Maybe A Lover
25. Weep Woman Weep
26. 30 Days [encore]
27. Girl With The Lugar [encore]
28. The Burning [encore]

Creatures Setlist:

1. Creatures
2. Great North Road Rage
3. Shitripper
4. Mucus
5. Whitey Tighty
6. Payday Hangover
7. War Against The World
8. Rivers Running Backwards
9. Beast Born Bad
10. Where’d We Go Wrong
11. Who Needs ‘Em
12. Special Powers
13. Bruce Willis
14. Miracle On St Benedicts
15. Dead Last

Slumbug Setlist:

1. Angry Fish Face
2. Lord Of The Dickheads
3. Analstasia
4. Selfish Living
5. Intro
6. Lies
7. Phlegm
8. Niu Niu
9. Lucy’s Hate Song

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