A bunch of middle-aged men and millennials revived the mosh-pit and all its glory, including crowd-surfing, at the University of Wollongong on Friday night.
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The irony was these sweaty, large bodies bounding together, were having convulsions of joy brought on by hits by Elton John, Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond - performed by all-star cover outfit Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on the first night of their Australian tour.
The group, led by Spike Slawson, had a kitsch dress-sense resembling the Beach Boys but brought the house down for an audience of men and women, ranging in their 20s to their 60s.
NSW Health frowns upon such "high risk activities" as crowd-surfing and moshing, but perhaps the mentality on this evening were "they are grown men and understand the consequences".
My personal thoughts of Wollongong's gig was an energetic and fun show, mixed with comedic banter with the crowd, plus punk and ska arrangements of Willie Nelson's On the Road Again to The Angels' Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again, and their finale of Boyz II Men's End of the Road.
Though I couldn't help but fear for my life while I bounced to the beat, squished to the barrier at the front of the stage (ok, so 'fearing for my life' may be an exaggeration). Thankfully no-one was majorly hurt, though I did hear someone dislocated a finger.
If you can get to one of their other gigs around the country this year, do it, otherwise count the days until you do as it's definitely worth the night out.
The Gimme Gimmes formed in San Francisco in 1995 and have included rock royalty on the lineup like Chris Shifflet (Foo Fighters) and Fat Mike of NOFX, though the list changes depending on who's free when a tour comes around.
The UOW contingent included the effervescent Slawson, CJ Ramone (The Ramones), Pinch (The Damned, English Dogs), John Reis (Rocket from the Crypt) and who I believe was Johnny Cope on guitar.
For more details on the current tour, visit: https://sbmpresents.com/tour/me-first-and-the-gimme-gimmes-2023/ - upcoming cities include Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.
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