A trio of Perth’s finest live rock n’ roll acts came together for a night of exceptional music and left a sell-out crowd at The Rosemount in North Perth thoroughly fulfilled & entertained. Headliners Hells Bells pulled together a wonderful line-up to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of AC/DC’s now legendary ‘Back in Black’ album. Once again, ‘The Rosie’ showed just why it is one of the city’s best venues with crisp, clean audio & a dazzling light show to boot.
The night kicked off with Perth’s most handsome band, The Caballeros and we didn’t even get midway through the opener before lead singer Jake ‘Dr Green’ England leapt the crash barriers to engage with his audience in the only way he knows how to. Lively, energetic and thoroughly entertaining, they even started slightly earlier than advertised to enable themselves to be able to cram in twelve songs – dedication. I’ve been a fan of The Caballeros since I first saw them around two years ago at Scarborough’s Indi Bar supporting Legs Electric and tonight, I have to say this was the best I have seen them to date. Alongside ‘Cabs’ regulars Nick Dudman (drums), Paul Bovenkerk (bass) & Jason Miroševic (guitar) England introduced us all to a new member of these lively degenerates, in the form of guitarist Chris, who fitted in seamlessly.
Nestled nicely among the setlist of tunes from their 2016 debut album ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’ were four new tracks; ‘Brian Jones’, ‘Gimme Love’, ‘Faux Diddley’ & ‘Tranquilize’. A nice surprise was Ballbreaker’s lead vocalist Kat Lamb joining the band on stage for the only cover of the set, a solid version of The Easybeats ‘I’ll Make You Happy’. Closing with ‘Caballeros Twist’ I took a moment to try to catch my breath and thought to myself, “Is there many a better band to start the night off like that?” Most certainly not. The Caballeros don’t just turn up to make up the numbers! This was tight, playful & powerful and looking around the room, The Caballeros will have left a lasting impression on a large section of the audience.
Setlist: Brian Jones, Gimme Love, I Got the Blues, Strict 9, Lovesick, Call the Doctor, Faux Diddley, Tranquilize, Keys to the City, Want Me to Go, I’ll Make You Happy (Easybeats Cover), Caballeros Twist
Ballbreaker Perth have it all; energy, power, looks and above all they own the music they play. Tonight, the female five-piece treated us to their fantastic Bon Scott era set of AC/DC hits, firing off with a trio of timeless classics in the shape of ‘Livewire’, ‘High Voltage’ & ‘Jailbreak’. An absolute AC/DC favorite of mine is ‘Touch Too Much’ and this too was given the Ballbreaker treatment with gusto and precision, before Kat Lamb tore into the bluesy classic ‘The Jack’ like there was no tomorrow. In Selina Paul & Krissy Sanfead, the band have an unbelievably talented & tight pair of guitarists, who faultlessly play off each other and tonight was no exception, as they traded riffs & solos with ease.
Back in the engine room drummer Lauren Reece and bassist Jade Champion pulled the band through the set with their solid rythmn work throughout, as the group continued their trip down memory lane with ‘She’s Got Balls’ & ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’. During ‘TNT’, Lamb and her cohorts had the crowd punching the air in unison before leading us into ‘Dirty Deeds’. The band left the stage after ‘Walk All Over You’ but it wasn’t long before the baying crowd begged them back for one more. How can you have a Bon Scott set without ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’? The answer is you can’t, and Ballbreaker made sure we knew that. Last year, I managed to catch Ballbreaker at The Civic during Perth Rock’s Festival and was mightily impressed then but they have clearly been working very hard because tonight they pulled out all the stops to take it to another level and were exceptional. Fantastic!
Setlist: Live Wire, High Voltage, Jailbreak, Touch Too Much, The Jack, She’s Got Balls, Can I Sit Next to You Girl, TNT, Dirty Deeds, Walk All Over You Encore: Whole Lotta Rosie
As the canned music faded out and the lights dimmed for a third & final time tonight, the iconic sound of a tolling bell filled the air, as WA’s longest serving AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells burst onto the stage to deliver their celebratory salutation to one of the biggest selling albums of all time, ‘Back in Black’. It’s hard to believe that it’s been forty years since the release of the multi-platinum album that helped an already meteoric band scale new heights. Hells Bells have earnt a solid reputation over the sixteen or so years they have been together and tonight was no exception with the band now adding front man Sal Abate (Gunners, Emerald City) to their arsenal, taking the band to new heights.
‘Hells Bells’, ‘Shoot to Thrill’ & ‘What You Do for Money Honey’ were absolutely on point as the one hundred and seventy strong crowd rocked in unison from start to finish. This was certainly a performance befitting such an iconic album and it was great to see the buzz and chemistry between band members, with faces lit up like giddy teenagers, as the played on through these forty-year old classics. ‘Givin the Done a Bone’ and ‘Let Me Put My Love into You Babe’ continued the timeless trip to yesteryear before we were reminded to “turn the record over at this point”.
‘Back in Black’, ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’, ‘Have a Drink on Me’ (we didn’t need encouraging guys) & ‘Shake a Leg’ continued the night along nicely and as the opening riff for the album closer ‘Rock n Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution’ played out, I suddenly & sadly realized we were fast approaching the end and that I had been swept along with an album I have loved for may a year and it was at this point I suddenly wished it had been a double vinyl release. We all wanted more though and Hells Bells weren’t going to let us leave disappointed as they gave it to us in two wonderful encores, with Kat Lamb returned to join Abate on ‘Let There Be Rock’ before the band closed with ‘Highway to Hell’ leaving the crowd fulfilled with their AC/DC fix for another night.
Musically this band are as tight as any I have heard, with founder members Mal Osborne (rythmn guitar) & Glenn Warber (drums) accompanied by the wonderful guitarwork (and occasional Angus hop) of David Jenkins and incredible bass playing of Pete Borg, which combined allows the music of AC/DC to be played very much as it was meant to be heard – solid, loud & raw. A mention must also go to The Rosemount sound & lights crew who added to the experience of the night. All-in-all a brilliant evening of high-class rock music from start to finish.
Setlist: Hells Bells, Shoot to Thrill, What Do You Do For Money Honey, Givin The Dog a Bone, Let Me Put My Love Into You, Back in Black, You Shook Me All Night Long, Have A Drink On Me, Shake a Leg, Rock n Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution Encore: Let There Be Rock, Highway to Hell
