ALIEN NOSEJOB & GEE TEE & RESEARCH REACTOR CORP - “LIVE!” CS

BLOW BLOOD RECORDS:

"Gee Tee and Research Reactor Corp. Two bands from a Sydney scene of synth-punk-weirdo enthusiasts that has sprouted and grown wildly within the last 7 years. And they wanted to take it to Melbourne!

Their first shot at these weekender shows was in mid-2021. However, although Covid restrictions by that time had relaxed in other states around Australia, Victoria and Melbourne were still holding strong to the strict lockdowns that by then, had already been in force for over a year since Covid spread rapidly across the globe in early 2020.

Those shows were cancelled and rebooked for later in 2021. And then they were cancelled again. It was a familiar and disheartening story for show organisers and band bookers at the time. Would we ever be able to put shows on again? Was it worth continuing to try??

Restrictions started to eased in Victoria toward the end of 2021. But although shows were now allowed to continue, the sense of responsibility the community felt about keeping people safe still hung over everyone. A fresh wave of covid sweeping through didn’t help either. Shows that had been booked for January were cancelled for the most part.

It came down to the wire. Keep the shows going or cancel them? What was the risk, and was the reward worth it? The shows went ahead.

Their first show was on Friday 4 February with Alien Nosejob as the only local support. Unlike most shows around this time, there were no pre-sales tickets. It was first come, first serve. There were no guarantees as to whether anyone would come with all the unease that everyone carried with them from the last few years.

But people got to Nighthawks early. The show sold out with people still waiting in a line that went out the front door and several stores down. Everyone that got in knew they were seeing something amazing - one of the first live shows back in Australia music capital, which was also the longest Covid lockdown city in the world. There was a tiny bit of hope that things would be ok."