Review: Viagra Boys latest US Tour @ Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville

MusicReview

Oct 13

☆ GOMI ZHOU ☆

VIAGRA BOYS ARE QUITE THE CERTIFIED “PUNK ROCK LOSERS” - On their double headline tour with fellow punk rascals, shame, the infamously wondrous Viagra Boys plays a packed Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville on a Tuesday night. While most probably do not expect the band to walk out in branded sports wears, the crowd certainly expected a kind of otherworldly hysteria from the band–and they got just that.

There’s a certain cognitive dissonance occupying the room. With Brooklyn Bowl being one of the newest venues in the music city, it’s not necessarily accustomed to the glorious grimeyness of a true punk show. And this show is grimey. It takes less than 4 songs before front row attendees start tossing all kind of small junks onto the stage, Woodstock ‘99 fashion. After quite a bit of confusion, lead singer Sebastian Murphy gives in and spits what looks like a fountain of beer at the crowd in return.

All around there is an organized sense of drunkenness, the unspilled cocktail passed between a fan and Murphy in the middle of a song says it all. Among the frenzy of endless crawling floor actions from Murphy and the most unorthodox saxophone playing you’d ever see from Oskar Carls, the 5-piece band never misses a beat, one word, any solo.

With a maddening grasp on everyone’s attention, Viagra Boys makes the hour-long set feels lightening short. For any dedicated fans of the band, this night has a near-perfect setlist; but even opening the set with “Ain’t No Thief” and “Ain’t Nice” playing back to back can not triumph one particular moment. While an extended version of the sax-driven track “Cold Play” echoes through the venue, Murphy kneels on the floor and utters what can only be coined as beautifully dreamy but vulgar interpretive poetry. A prolonged “your mum” joke later, the band transitions seamlessly into their biggest hit to date, “Sports.” From recent hits like “Punk Rock Loser,” to mellow classics dated all the way back to the band’s debut like “Worms,” this setlist covers all grounds.

Frankly, very few bands are capable to present the kind of live sets Viagra Boys bring, and very few words are capable to fully capture their energy.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫