TWENTY-FIVE years since their formation, Regurgitator still haven’t lost their frenzied energy.
In a sold-out show in Hobart the crowd managed to create a minor weather event, Ben Ely said.
“It was actually raining in the club,” he said.
“Everyone was sweating so much that the condensation was hitting the roof and raining back down on people.”
Regurgitator’s nationwide tour Life Support is coming to the Sunshine Coast this Sunday at Maroochydore’s Sol Bar and is the last show of the tour.
“The Sunny Coast will probably be getting the best version of the band,” Ely said.
It is their first big tour in a few years and Ben said travelling with Quan Yeomans, Peter Kostic and the band was something he appreciated more, especially now they now live in separate states.
“We’re a really functional family that doesn’t fight too much any more,” he said.
Their ninth studio album Headroxx was released at the start of the month and bounces across every genre in typical Gurge fashion.
Ely said the album drew inspiration from the stresses of modern life.
“They’re almost rock songs about being a little bit crazy or dealing with stress, pressure and anxiety,” he said.
A lot has changed since those early days performing in Fortitude Valley, but their eclectic energy is starting to attract a whole new generation of Gurge fans.
“For years there the crowd was getting older with us,” Ely said. “We’re hitting this point where all these young kids are at the gigs.
“I’d come up and ask them, ‘why are you here?’”
For the first time, the band decided to change up some of the songs in the album after seeing the cover, designed by Australian artist Ben Adams of Freeak Street.
“It’s so strange and weird we had to make it weirder,” he said.
After the tour closes, Ely and the rest of band will get to work on a new project – a kids album.
Ely wrote some of the songs with his daughters and Yeomans, now a father himself, was more than ready to get on board.
“We tried to make the naughtiest album for kids without swearing,” Ely said.
“There’s a character named Mr Butt …with pants that always fall down.”
Originally published in the Sunshine Coast Daily
Justin Sayson 