sixfthick

_{Ben Corbett makes a point to the crowd as SixFtHick play on.}

In May 2012, I had the good fortune to travel to Brittany in France to see HITS plays three club shows in the cities of Brest, Lorient and Lannion. The brilliant Ben Salter happened to be touring France at the same time, so he arrived, guitar in hand, to see his friends in HITS - and was promptly added to the bill for those gigs.

HITS and Salter were welcomed with open arms and rapturous applause, but I started to hear French people say the same thing to them after every show - "You have to play at Binic!"

The Brisbane music scene was devastated by the loss of stalwart performer Alan "Fred" Noonan in May 2024 following a long illness. Fred’s extensive community of bandmates will come together for ‘and event, "Rocky’s Boogie", at the Tivoli in Brisbvane this Saturday, August 10 to celebrate Fred’s legacy from the last 40-plus years.

It is no exaggeration to say that Fred was a Brisbane punk rock legend. Prior to co-founding Blowhard in 1989, Fred was a member of pioneering punk bands Brothers Of Feedback, New Improved Testament and Public Execution (who supported Dead Kennedys in 1984).

Fred was with Blowhard from 1989 to 1993 (and intermittently since). In 1991, via his cowpunk alter-ego Rocky Outcrop. He formed side-project The Fred Band, which ended up being one of Brisbane’s longest-lasting musical legacies. After leaving Blowhard in 1993, Fred co-founded Sixfthick, another enduring Brisbane institution.

Fred also took Brisbane punk's status to the international stage, undertaking several overseas tours with Sixfthick and The Jim Rockfords and finding a second home in France's Brittany region.

Brut - Gentle Ben and his Shimmering Hands (Beast Records/Spooky Records)

You dug Six Foot Hick? Of course you did. Gentle Ben and his Sensitive Side? Sure. 

But it's 2024. And “Brut'” is here. 

The Shimmering Hands are Jhindu Pedro-Lawrie on drums, Dan Baebler on bass, and Tony Giaccaon guitars. Ben Corbett handles the vocals... 

The Bandcamp blurb explains; “The themes of BRUT range from a fraught, taught exploration of the broken bodies, hearts and minds of our capitalist hellscape (‘Spices’) to wailing rock and roll eulogies (‘De Bliksem’, ‘No Encore’), a drifting death-country ode to colonialism (‘Five Stars’) to bloody kitchen sink drama (‘Tactical Empathy’).”