I’m in Frankston to watch a sold out Playlunch show at the Pelly Bandroom.

Frankston gets an unfairly bad rap at times I was thinking on the train, until I hopped off and saw an area of the platform was spattered with blood and had been cordoned off with police tape, so perhaps it deserves it. Walking the 15 minutes to the venue there were people in matching Christmas outfits shadow boxing in the street, and the bars were packed with end-of-year partygoers.

I sat for a while at the beach and then went inside. After Playlunch finished their soundcheck we went across the street to the park on the foreshore and filmed an interview before they had to run off. Me and Drew filmed some stuff by the sea and I utterly drenched my pants, so I changed back into shorts and then went back to the venue where the doors had just opened.

The first band ‘Busted Chops’ was very fun. A massive horn section, they played a lot of dancey covers which went down well with the crowd, they were all very good musicians and sounded exceptional.

After their set I went backstage into the green room of what was apparently a very popular nightclub in the 80s. I saw the famous revolving dance floor (which has been decommissioned), and explored the old green room of the main stage which was still back in the 80s, even down to the Italian feature tile in the centre of the table.

Barefoot Spacemen played next. They had a similar funk/disco feel to the other two on the line-up, and played a very tight, well-rehearsed set. The lead singer sung without an instrument which is always brave, and had great chat with the crowd. The saxophone and harmonica solos they sprinkled throughout were great, and by the end of their set the room was packed.

I left for their green room during their last song, where the vocalists and horns of Playlunch were warming up. The crowd was ready and roaring. They entered the stage to techno, kitted out in polos and sunnies to big applause. A fairly sizable proportion of the crowd was already wearing Playlunch merch. They opened with “Who’s Ready For A Good Time” and the crowd all sung the “nah nah nah naaah nah” refrain with no prompt from the band. Liam is an electric frontman, so enticing nobody can help but sing along, and they do. A crowd of committed fans down in Frankston, everybody seemed to know all the songs.

They play a new track about “partying with the boys”, then follow it up with their newest single ‘Station Rat’, and the crowd all scream back the line “I’m the king of Frankston”. Liam tells the crowd they’re going to split into four groups, “please separate, like the Red Sea ladies and gentlemen come on”, for the traditional Playlunch singalong. Splitting their crowd off into ‘houses’, once all four corners of the room have shouted their lines back to the stage the band comes together to deliberate. Pointing to every house one by one while they discuss, the crowd is buzzing. The final victory is awarded and they close out their set.

After their final song, the band returns for an encore of “Best Night of Your Fkn Life”, a soft piano ballad for which the crowd spontaneously take out their phone torches and sway in rough unison, and they finish their set with a cover of ‘Everybody’ by the Backstreet Boys. The crowd all erupt and two of the guys in front of me even start to gabber. After the set I quickly said my goodbyes, then run for my train and make it with a minute to spare.

Playlunch put on an excellent, unrivalled show. The outfits and the numerous references to niece 2000s cultural figures playfully mock Australian culture while simultaneously embracing it. Their shows want you to have fun, and they ensure that you do with surgical precision.

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