Amyl and the Sniffers at Fine Line, Minneapolis (13 May 2022)

One of the hottest ticket in town on Friday night was Amyl & the Sniffers’ show at the Fine Line Music Café. The show had sold out, with fans outside looking for spare tickets to get in. Fans packed the small narrow room, from young punks to old punks, ready to rock the dancefloor.



Sydney’s C.O.F.F.I.N. opened the show. The acronym stands for “Children of Finland Fighting in Norway”, which is also the title of their current album.



The band features drummer and singer Ben Portnoy, lead guitarist Abijah Rado, guitarist Arthur Flanders, guitarist Aaron Moss, and bassist Laurence Adams.



Before the band ended their set, they made a political statement about the Aboriginals in Australia. It was actually hard to understand what Ben Portnoy was saying, partly due to his heavy accent.



Next up was Atlanta’s Upchuck (singer KT, guitarist Mikey, guitarist Hoff, bassist Armando, and drummer Chris), who was joining the tour on their first night. The band sounded very angry, playing tracks from their debut EP, as well as new songs, such as “Night Calls”.



What can I say about Melbourne’s Amyl & the Sniffers? After making their US television debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers in mid-April, it seems like the world’s finally catching on to this ARIA award winner. The truth is, all their US tour dates had already sold out before their Late Night appearance, so rock/punk fans were already in the know.



The Australian pub punk band fun to watch, as vocalist Amy Taylor ran and bounced across the stage, never stopping or slowing down. Rounding out the rest of the band are the always shirtless drummer Bryce Wilson, guitarist Dec Martens, and bassist Fergus Romer.



Amyl & the Sniffers’ sophomore album, Comfort To Me is available now on ATO Records/Rough Trade.

Remaining tour dates:

Special thanks to Amy for providing photos from the front line.