Hockey Dad

It was a night of sweat, smells, tears, and beers. Hockey Dad’s Zach Stephenson and Billy Flemming are a dangerous duo. They know how to get you jumping till you’re bathing in your own sweat and stinking like four-day-old underpants. They’ll have you crying while whooping along to lyrics from Join The Club. As well as pounding beers down – half into your belly and half onto the person you’re being pushed into it. You will have joined da club after attending a Hockey Dad gig. The Hockey Dadelicious club. Welcome.

The Hockey Dad lads graced the stage to the Vengaboys We Like To Party. Well, so do Stephenson and Flemming. As well as (what felt like) the hundreds of other people pushing and shoving you. This slowly evolved into a circle of death. It was hot. It was steamy. You could barely breathe. While others crowd swam: pretending to do breaststroke onto of people. Another patron ripped off his jacket, threw it in into the air, and it hooked around the light. Good luck trying to get that down mate.

A mix of tracks were played off the albums Boronia and new release Blend Inn. Hockey Dad are doing the exact opposite of blending in. Stephenson and Flemming stand out and they make you stand up… if you’re sitting down… in the seated section. Especially to tunes such as Homely Feeling and I Wanna Be Everybody. The brilliant part was that every guitar rift and every hit of the cymbals was so distinct sounding. The actual sound of their instruments was heard really clearly. Big claps to the sound guy at the Metro. The lighting was lovely too. Particularly the soft pink and blue for rock ballad Danny.

Fleming whipped his head back and forth constantly during the entire set. I was left with so many questions. How tight was his cap? How did it not fly off? Did his brain hurt from it being hit against his skull over and over again? Can he see with his hair being whipped repeatedly into his eyes? Stephenson loosened a bit and rocked out when Shane Parsons from DZ Deathrays jumped up, swigged from a Jameson bottle, and played a Vines cover with him. Having all three lads on stage was a nice dynamic because they seemed to really vibe off of each other. Dare I say the Vines cover might have been better than the original? The lads truly smashed it.

The Hockey Dad gig was an extravaganza of surf and skate rock n roll with muscles and mullets spotted everywhere you turned. Stephenson and Flemming thanked the crowd for coming. No, thank you for putting on such a fun show. Definitely felt a “sweet releeeeeeaaase” while watching that gig.