Australian punks The Chats played The Phoenix Concert Theatre last night, just a few days shy of the one year anniversary of the first time they played that same venue, this time bringing San Diego garage rockers The Schizophonics and their countrymen Cosmic Psychos along for the ride.
Following an excellent opening set by The Schizophonics, Cosmic Psychos took to the stage and demonstrated that have quite a bit in common with The Chats. Not only are both bands Australian, but they also share a similar ethos with their hard-hitting live shows and big, dumb punk songs about drinking and going to the pub. The Psychos have been at it a lot longer though, getting their start way back in 1982 and putting out 11 albums over the years, with the most recent being 2021’s Mountain of Piss.
Up next were The Chats, who proved that not much has changed since they were last in town a year ago – singer/bassist Eamon Sandwith is still rockin’ the mullet, the venue was similarly packed, and the band ran through a similar set of short, fast, and fun punk rock tunes. And you know what? That’s fine – it’s not like I was expecting the band to have shifted into their Spinal Tap Jazz Odyssey phase. And really, nobody wants that from The Chats. No, you go to a Chats show to see them run through 25 high energy songs in just under an hour and the band did just that, much to the delight of the crowd, with songs such as “Struck By Lightning”, “Better Than You” and “Smoko” inspiring many a crowdsurfer.