Holiday For Cambodia @ The Espy
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Holiday For Cambodia @ The Espy

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At a fraction past 4pm, the belly of The Espy’s Gershwin Room had already swelled with punters thrashing to the aptly-named Metalstorm. A tight pocket of heads banging and fists pumping marked a solid start to a benefit gig with a heart of gold. With a lineup boasting some of Melbourne’s finest heavy acts, Holiday For Cambodia – a pun on the Dead Kennedy’s classic Holiday In Cambodia – was organised to support one man and his battle with cancer: 34 year-old St Kilda local and heavy music fanatic Cam Ward (proceeds went towards his treatment and a well-deserved holiday, hence the name). A distinct feeling of companionship lingered through the crowd with friends, bands, and complete strangers alike all getting behind the cause.

Wielding sledgehammer grooves that could level skyscrapers, Jack The Stripper’s late afternoon set confirmed they’re one of the most frenetic live bands getting around. Vocalist Luke Frizon stalked the stage like a man possessed, hurling himself into the crowd one minute and howling into the mic the next. Keeping pace, Join The Amish channelled old school Testament into thrash gems about Centrelink; Crowned Kings delivered no-nonsense, straight-up hardcore brutality; while Sydney’s Glass Ocean managed to achieve the seemingly impossible by subduing a metal-hungry crowd with some gently melodic prog.

If you were a fan of local metal overlords Faux Defeated, Picture The End, Synthesist, or The Abandonment and you missed this gig, maybe stop reading this review because a) they all reformed for one night only and b) it was fucking glorious. They all killed it. Especially headliners The Abandonment, who summon sonic terror from monstrously detuned eight-stringed beasts. Both brutal and bittersweet, it’s a shame these guys didn’t stick around longer. Though for all the bands that have called it a day on the bill, there’s fresh talent like Anchors and OTT glam rockers Electrik Dynamite ready to fill shoes (check these guys out – they’re the most fun you’ll have this side of Steel Panther).

If anything, Holiday For Cambodia proved that if you peel back the rough exterior of punk, metal, and hardcore, you’re left with fans that care equally about the wellbeing of those involved in the scene, as well as the music itself.

BY JACK PILVEN

Loved: Great bands supporting a great cause.

Hated: The drunk, bearded fool throwing himself around during Anchors.

Drank: Underneath those devil-spawn antler chandeliers in The Gershwin Room.