What’s an Aussie punk band with festival crowds in the palm of its hand doing in a pokey place like this?

There’s little rationale to the venue size/band ratio. It’s happening more these days, as the hottest new acts, from Wet Leg to Yard Act, sell out Berlin venues they’ve clearly outgrown through airplay during the pandemic. For this raucous Melbourne-born punk band, Berlin’s Astra Kulturhaus is a boot that no longer fits.

Arriving onstage to Eminem’s Without Me, guitarist Dec Martens, drummer Bryce Wilson, bassist Fergus Romer and lead singer Amy Taylor strike an immediate bond with their east Berlin audience.

It’s a tight, breakneck set mainly from the band’s second album, last year’s Comfort to Me, including lead singles Guided by Angels, Security and, near the end of the show, the sublime Hertz. As strong as those songs clearly are, you can’t help but wonder what the brilliant Choices and No More Tears did to upset those at the table when the singles were picked. Got You, with its “Buy Me a Drink and My Eyes Glaze Over” line, is proof that newer fans won’t be disappointed if they dig deep for earlier material.

Aside from Amy’s odd dankeschön or tales of German schnitzel for lunch, there’s no let-up. An onstage bouncer, with arms like baseball bats, has a busy night making sure invading fans don’t stick around too long. Nothing stops this train and to call tonight high-octane is an understatement, with 20 or so songs smashed out the park and no encore, although the crowd would’ve taken one.

It’s a far cry from the English country field of 80,000 Liam Gallagher fans the band warmed up just days before. But I’d bet a plastic glass of Schnapps that making the sweat drip from Astra’s low ceiling was just as gratifying for a band with no limits.

Photo credit: Russ Handy