One of the best things about live music is it’s innate ability to transport you to another place. Though sometimes when you anticipate a show for such a long time it’s hard for it to ever live up to your lofty expectations. Sometimes though it happens, though its only on rare occasions that you find yourself on a night out rocking with a few hundred similarly disposed reprobates and you realise you’re part of something bigger.
Tonight’s show by John Corabi in Melbourne was more of an event than a concert, with Corabi and his band at the very top of their game and not one or two but three of Melbourne’s finest in support. Sydney on Thursday, and Brisbane tonight and Adelaide tomorrow may well have got a great triple header with Ablaze and Sisters Doll in support, but here in Melbourne we also got Electric Mary surely one of Australia’s finest Hard Rock bands and fresh off the back of their stunning new album.
Opening up the night Melbourne’s’ Ablaze are another band with a great future ahead of them and never having witnessed them before I must say I was mightily impressed by both their stage craft and the strength of their songs. Though the mix was a little muddy at times the guitar sat nicely in there and the live show delivered on what was a great recent debut album. Definitely a band to checkout with some sweet melodies, big hooks and a sense of late eighties stadium swagger.
Sisters Doll on the other hand are a band I’ve seen maybe a dozen times over the years way back to the days when they were based in Collie WA. Those fresh-faced teenagers with a vision and a love of all things Motley and Kiss have come a long way in those years and deliver a set that is polished to perfection and chock full of fist-pumpers and even the odd recycled Paul Stanley one liner. Pick of the set was their new single ‘Black Mirror’ which is seriously good.
Great as the openers were though, by the time Electric Mary had finished their set a lot of people must have been wondering if Mr Corabi and co could top that. I was just grinning from ear to ear like many of my fellow punters knowing that Silverback Touring had already given the crowd more than their money’s worth and we still had the headliner to come! Honestly though for a band 16 years down the line to have produced their finest album to date is remarkable and to hear ‘Hold on to What You Got’ from it played live just proved the sheer class and the extended bluesy jam that seemed to overtake the latter part of the set was transformational! I told Rusty after the show ‘Mother’ was looking like the album of the year “Album of the year in February, that’s a big call” he replied. It’s a bloody good album.
Of course the man everyone was here to see John Corabi was up next and as we expected the band lashed out with the opening notes to “Power to the Music” as John took the stage. It’s a powerful opening to a powerful album, easily the heaviest Crue ever released and for me by far their high-watermark. Pretty much every track on the album is gold and you can feel the love and the heat from the packed house as John regales us with far more, and far more detailed anecdotes than he did when I saw him play the Motley ’94 show in the States a few years back. It’s almost as if he’s giving us his own abridged version of ‘The Dirt’ so the timing couldn’t be more topical. The news that these will also be Johns last ever Motley ’94 shows of course makes everything that extra special.
We even get a joke from John to open up with, though in truth it’s not the kind of joke that will see him crossing the street to the Comedy Festival anytime soon, but it’s an immediate connection and for the crowd really gives you a sense of the man himself – the sort of guy that you can interview and feel you’ve known him forever. It is of course all about the music, and I’ll wager that there are very few in the house who don’t know what’s coming next as the band launches straight into ‘Uncle Jack’ a fine example of the new depth that Corabi’s brought to Crue’s lyrics.
There are old guys next to me punching the air like kids as they sing along, and even better young kids singing along too. If that spark had already set the crowd smouldering then ‘Hooligan’s Holiday’ sees the flame take hold and that flame becomes and explosion as the three guitar attack that is ‘Misunderstood’ envelops us all.
And the album continues in order with so many jumping off on different tunes: ‘Loveshine’ (from a Mick riff apparently, great impression Mr C!) sees the acoustics out and ‘Poison Apples’ makes you wonder who gave this man this voice! Live Corabi is a marvel to behold, and his band are amazing, if only they can capture that sheer power on his upcoming solo album? ‘Hammered’ of course is heavy as hell and i love the story of the riff from back in the Angora days. Then comes my favourite, and the song that John chose himself and introduced on our recent podcast: ‘Til Death to us Part’ which has so much power and raw energy and emotion the whole font row seem stunned and awed.
There’s the cool story around how the band managed to pull off the different keys of ‘Welcome To The Numb’ and the crowd-pleasing ‘Smoke The Sky’ before the wonderful band are introduced to huge applause. We close the set with ‘Dropping Like Flies’ replete with wonderful jam and then the 12-String is out again for ‘Driftaway’ which of course closed the original album.
An hour and a half after starting the album comes to an end, but unlike in Sydney last night there’s more to come – we won’t spoil it for those in Brisbane and Adelaide, but John and band play us two further Motley songs that he recorded.
Melbourne rocked tonight and I feel safe to say if you’re in Brisbane or Adelaide you need to get out and see this show. John Corabi is one of rock’s greatest voices and whilst this might be the end of the road for the Motley ’94 set let’s hope he’s back gin soon with a slice of all that other great music he’s made over the years.
Thanks to John, and to Danny at Silverback for being absolute legends.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Scott Smith: Lens Of Rock
John Corabi
Ablaze, Sisters Doll, Electric Mary
John Corabi March 2019 Australian Tour remaining dates
Sat 30 March – Brisbane – Crow Bar Black
Sun 31 March – Adelaide – Enigma Bar
Tickets On sale – NOW
From: silverbacktouring.com
